


Power Rangers: VS

by xXRocketShark216Xx



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers S.P.D., 快盗戦隊ルパンレンジャー VS 警察戦隊パトレンジャー | Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patoranger
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adaptation, Aliens, Drama, F/M, Found Family, Future, Humor, Phantom Thieves - Freeform, Police, Romance, Tokusatsu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:55:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29414481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXRocketShark216Xx/pseuds/xXRocketShark216Xx
Summary: A three-way war for the fabled Lupin Collection has begun, and the fate of New Tech City hangs in the balance! Who will win? The Victory Rangers, thieves hellbent on procuring a single wish? SPD's C-Squad, rookie Rangers determined to protect their city? Or the Fossili Family, an alien mob that feeds off of chaos? Only time will tell! (LuPat Adaptation fic) (Indirect Sequel to SPD)
Comments: 12





	1. Episode 1: The Road to Victory (Part I)

**~Location: New Tech City, California/Year: 203X~**

It was rapidly approaching three o'clock in the morning in the world's most technologically advanced city, but for the patrons of Swampy's Casino, the night was still very young. A hundred or more people flooded the venue, participating in wild bouts of drinking, gambling, and debauchery. The smell of smoke and cheap booze filled the building's interior, as did the sounds of rolling dice, shuffling cards, and rambunctious shouting. As the patrons continued participating in various games of chance, finely dressed waiters and waitresses in masquerade masks made their rounds with cocktails and other such refreshments.

One of these waiters - a German American male no older than twenty-one who wore a red mask, top hat, and tuxedo - stopped and hovered over a green felt table, where an intense game of poker was currently taking place.

"-Annnnnnd that's _another_ win for me!" A man in his early to mid thirties hollered in excitement. This prompted his opponents to begrudgingly push their chips forward, adding to the small mountain of plastic pieces that sat in front of him. "WHOO!"

"Alright then, who's up for another?" The dealer asked everyone at the table. "C'mon now, don't be shy,"

The man to the right of the winner shook his head and collected his pile of chips, saying, "Nah man, I'm quitting while I'm ahead."

As he turned and walked away, an older woman on the other side of the table scooped up her own pile of chips, which was now pitifully small. "I can't afford to lose anymore tonight. Good game, everyone."

One by one, everyone at the table backed out. Soon, only the winner of the previous hand remained.

"Well, well, well...guess that just leaves you then, huh?" The dealer observed. He clicked his tongue, then added, "Tell you what, how 'bout _I_ play ya? Double or nothing, winner take all?"

"Hmm...I mean, I _have_ won a lot of money tonight, buuuuuut…" The man glanced at a young blonde woman he had wrapped around his arm, who winked and blew him a small kiss. He flashed her a confident smirk, then turned back to the dealer. "What the hell, count me in!"

Hearing this, the man in the red mask fought the urge to roll his eyes. As he continued to hover around the poker table, he spotted a yellow-clad waitress in his peripheral vision. She was of Pakistani and Israeli descent, and appeared no older than nineteen.

The young woman crossed the room and made her way towards him, then subtly leaned into his ear and whispered, " _Getting a little restless here, Red. When do we move in?"_

" _Patience, Yellow. It's a virtue,"_ He whispered back, much to her annoyance. As she skulked off, he reached for a hidden earpiece he was wearing. Pressing a button on the device, he spoke into it, saying, " _Blue. The roulette guy, is that him?"_

Shaking his head slightly, a blue-clad Russian American man standing behind the front counter reached up and adjusted a pair of blue-lensed sunglasses he was wearing so that they sat better on his nose. He then spoke into his own earpiece, saying, _"Nah Red, I don't think so. What about poker guy, is he clean?"_

" _Jury's still out,"_ 'Red' replied, turning his attention back to the poker table as he heard some sort of commotion. Staring at the dealer in shock, the winner of the previous hand let out a horrified gasp.

"B-But...that's impossible..!" He stammered, his eyes wide with disbelief as they darted from the dealer to his hand of cards. "I _had_ a royal flush, so where did all this garbage come from?!"

"Looks like you weren't paying attention," The dealer taunted, his lips momentarily curling into an evil grin that only 'Red' and 'Yellow' seemed to notice. "Anyway, I suppose that makes me the winner. Pay up."

"I-I don't have the m-money…!" At this point, the gold-digging blonde ripped her arm away from the man's and walked away, having lost all interest in him.

"You really should've thought this through then, huh? Guards!" The dealer snapped his fingers, prompting a dozen or so security officers to rush to the table out of nowhere. He gestured toward the man, then said, "Take him away!"

"What?! NO!" The man screamed in horror, as two of the guards grabbed him by the arms and began dragging him away. "HELP!"

" _This is definitely him,"_ 'Red' spoke into his earpiece, paying the helpless gambler no mind and instead focusing his attention on the dealer. " _If we don't move now we'll miss our window, Blue."_

Hearing this, 'Blue' wordlessly stepped out from behind the front counter and padded his way across the casino floor. 'Red' subtly waved 'Yellow' over, then stepped closer to the poker table.

"Bravo, bravo!" He said, clapping his hands mockingly. As the dealer turned and eyed him in confusion, he added, "Using the Gambler's Dice to change his winning hand into trash - very clever, indeed."

"What on earth are you talking about…?" The dealer replied, scrunching up his nose in confusion. "Are you insinuating I cheated?"

"That's _exactly_ what I'm saying...Giocrana." 'Red' said with a smirk. As 'Blue' and 'Yellow' joined him on either side, he reached into his pocket and produced a shiny red card. "Now listen up! I'm only telling this once…!"

"Just who do you think you-?!" Before the dealer could finish speaking, 'Red' launched the card at him like a frisbee, gashing his cheek. The dealer's body expanded like a balloon and then glowed with a blinding light; when the light cleared, a yellow and purple frog-like alien stood in his place.

"Why you...that really hurt, you little brat!" As the rest of the casino's occupants backed away in fear and surprise, the remaining guards stepped closer, tightening their formation around the dealer. "Just who are you?!"

"Oh, us…? Just those thieves everyone's been talking about," 'Red' told him. "And your treasure…? It's MINE!"

"We'll see about that!" At the snap of his fingers, the guards ripped their suits off, revealing them to actually be skeletal aliens in disguise. "Cranforos, attack!"

Following his order without question, the Cranforos dashed towards the trio of thieves. They produced golden blaster pistols, which they immediately began using to fire lasers at them. Brandishing their own blasters, the thieves leapt into action. Bolts of plasma soared in every direction, while bits of wood, shreds of paper, and playing cards flew through the air like debris.

As they ran forward, 'Red' hopped up onto a nearby pool table, spinning around as he took out several of the alien goons. 'Blue' did a front-flip to avoid incoming projectiles, then landed on the floor, grabbed a Cranforo by the arm, and flipped it onto its back before disposing of it with a headshot. 'Yellow' cartwheeled out of the way as a trio of Cranforos swung sword-like weapons in her direction, then dropped to the floor and swept their legs out from under them. While this was happening, panicked civilians weaved in and out of the chaos, screaming in fear as they tore out of the venue.

Vaulting into the air, 'Red' reached into his tux and produced a red fighter jet-esque trinket with a dial on it. He landed directly in front of Giocrana, then immediately planted the trinket on the safe on the alien's stomach.

"2-0-7!" An electronic voice announced, seeming to emanate from the trinket. A metallic click echoed through the building as Giocrana's safe swung open, allowing 'Red' to reach in and procure a dice-like object.

"What the-?! How did you crack into my-?!" Before Giocrana could finish his sentence, 'Red' slammed the safe shut, then delivered a swift kick to the alien's sternum. The dealer toppled onto the floor and rolled backwards, colliding with a nearby table. "My Collection piece!"

'Red' let out an amused snort, then said, "Told you it was mine,"

"Your days of scamming people are over," 'Blue' added as he rejoined 'Red'.

Giocrana struggled back up to his feet, then shouted, "You think you can just waltz in here and steal my treasure?!"

"Blow it out your ass!" 'Yellow' said rather crudely, making her way over to the other two. "It didn't belong to you, anyway."

"Why, you...I'll teach you to mess with the Fossilli Family!" Giocrana shoved a pair of Cranforos tending to him aside, then opened his hands as orbs of purple energy began to materialize in his palms. "EAT THIS!"

With that, he launched the orbs at the thieves, causing a massive explosion that shattered every window in the establishment and presumably killed the intruders…

* * *

"This is SPD HQ to all available units: we have an active situation at Swampy's Casino!" A female voice echoed from the radio embedded into the dash of a police car currently patrolling the city streets. "I repeat, there is an active situation at Swampy's! Three thieves in masquerade masks have been spotted fighting members of the Fossilli Family there, and a massive explosion just erupted at the scene. Requesting any and all available units to respond, over!"

The driver of the car - a Japanese American man in his mid to late twenties dressed in an SPD uniform - lunged for the radio, pulling the transponder off of the dash and lifting it to his mouth before speaking into it.

"This is Cadet Kaijo! I'm enroute to that location!" He recklessly crossed over into the nearby turning lane, using it to change direction before speeding toward the casino. "Acknowledged?"

"Reading you loud and clear, Cadet. Good luck out there!" With that, Cadet Kaijo slotted the transponder back onto the radio and focused all of his attention on the road ahead. In the passenger's seat, an African American woman in an identical SPD uniform rolled her eyes, then reached for a blaster holstered on her hip and began fiddling with it. In the back seat, a younger Mexican American man in uniform nervously twiddled his thumbs, clearly riddled with anxiety…

* * *

Inside the casino, Giocrana and his Cranforos bellowed with laughter as flames rose on the other side of the interior. Their celebration of victory was short-lived, however, as the smoke began to fade away.

"What the-?! But wait...that can't be!"

Giocrana's worst fears were realized when the smoke fully dissipated and revealed that the thieves had not died; rather, in their place were three figures in color-coded spandex armor, each one corresponding to one of the intruders' colors. Each of them sat in one of the casino's chairs, and their posture was extremely relaxed considering they'd just survived an explosion.

"What the-?!"

"Didn't expect us to make it, did ya?" The Red Power Ranger taunted, rising from his seat with his blaster in his hand. The orientation of its barrel had changed, and the red trinket he'd used to open Giocrana's safe was now slotted onto the top.

"We're walking outta here," The Blue Power Ranger added, rising from his own seat. His blaster has changed in much the same manner, only his trinket was blue and resembled a propeller plane. "Not yet, though. We're in no rush."

The Yellow Power Ranger rose from her own chair, brandishing her own blaster and allowing their foes to see the yellow futuristic helicopter-esque trinket that was now slotted onto it. "We've got your treasure now, but we might as well kick your ass on the way out!"

With that, the Red Ranger suddenly kicked a nearby chair at the Cranforos, tripping two of them and knocking them off their feet. He and the others then dashed towards their foes, firing at them with their blasters as they leapt back into the fray.

The Blue Ranger ran behind a nearby row of slot machines, using them as cover as the Cranforos began firing laser bolts at him. He stopped every couple feet to fire back at his attackers, then reached the end of the line and front-flipped into a leather chair. After a few moments of smug stillness, he moved again out of nowhere, effortlessly gunning down the group of goons that had surrounded him.

On the other side of the room, the Yellow Ranger pelted the Cranforos around her with laser fire. She then delivered a swift roundhouse kick to a bucket of darts sitting on a nearby table, knocking it over and sending darts in every direction. The metal projectiles flew through the air and several of them sunk into the aliens' skin, eliciting shouts of pain. Giocrana joined in their anguish, emerging from behind a wooden table to reveal a dart embedded in his head.

"How did you even see me…?!"

Finally, Red dashed outside and made his way into a courtyard swimming pool area. He shot at his attackers while he ran, then vaulted over a poolside table and kicked a Cranforo in the stomach. He grabbed another one by the leg, flipped it into the air, and shot it in the abdomen as it plummeted back down. Another of the alien goons attempted to sneak up on him, but he kicked it in the chest and back-handed it with his blaster, knocking it into the pool.

Inside, Blue and Yellow continued to clean house, effortlessly mowing down the small army. As Red kicked a Cranforo through a glass window and burst back inside, Giocrana trembled in anger. Without a second thought, he charged towards the trio, intending to destroy them once and for all.

Out of nowhere, the front doors of the establishment flew open, revealing three young adults in SPD garb. They held standard issue blasters in their right hands and SPD badges in their left.

"SPD!" Their leader, the Japanese American man who'd been driving the car, exclaimed. "EVERYBODY FRE-"

He was cut off mid-sentence by a loud wail. Giocrana screamed at the top of his lungs as he flew through the air; the cadets had to dive out of the way to avoid being crushed as he smashed into a nearby bar, scattering broken glass everywhere.

The rookie cops rose back up to their feet just in time to see the Red, Blue, and Yellow Power Rangers make their way to their target. As their blasters each began to glow in their respective colors, they aimed them at the Fossilli Family member and pulled the trigger. Three beams of energy hurtled towards the alien, cutting through him like a hot knife through butter. Giocrana's body began to spark; this spark quickly intensified, and he let out one final scream before he exploded.

This explosion staggered the SPD cadets, who struggled to maintain their footing. The Mexican American cadet eyed the Rangers in awe, then said, "Are you…?"

"You're the Victory Rangers." The African American cadet confirmed.

"Sorry lady, no autographs," The Red Ranger sarcastically quipped.

"Shutup!" Cadet Kaijo exclaimed angrily, aiming his blaster at the red thief. "You're under arrest!"

The Red Ranger ignored the cop, instead turning his attention to his blaster. He pulled a lever on the back, then twisted the barrel sideways before twisting it back. He then aimed it at a massive hole in the wall and pulled the trigger, prompting an electronic voice to holler, "Dial Zord, take flight! R-R-R-Red!"

Flying off the top of his blaster, the Red Dial Zord grew gigantic and then soared out of the building. Vaulting into the air, the trio of Rangers used grappling hooks to attach themselves to the fighter jet, then flew away as the SPD cadets looked on helplessly.

"Adieu~!" The Red Ranger taunted, waving to Cadet Kaijo as he flew past. Before disappearing for good, he flicked another card into the air. The African American cadet leapt into the air to snatch it up, only narrowly managing to do so.

" _The treasure is ours…"_ She read aloud, prompting Cadet Kaijo's face to scrunch up in anger. He ripped the card out of her hands and tore it in half, then tossed the halves aside and clenched both his fists.

"DAMN VICTORY RANGERS!"

* * *

"...alright, we did it!" The now-demorphed Red Victory Ranger took off his mask, then let out a sigh of relief. He removed his top hat as he stepped into the parking lot of a closed coffee shop, where a red sedan and a blue utility van were both parked. "That was a close one, huh?"

"I'll say," The demorphed Blue Victory Ranger replied, reaching up and removing his sunglasses. He felt his pocket buzz, prompting him to pull out his phone and split off from the other two.

"Those posers from SPD sure were pissed!" The demorphed Yellow Victory Ranger said with an amused grin. "You see the look on the one guy's face, Grif?"

"He definitely didn't look happy, Est." The German American youth let out a small yawn, then added, "I don't really feel like driving home this late...mind if I crash here?"

The Yellow Ranger scrunched up her nose, then replied, "Fine but you're sleeping on the couch, and if you try anything funny I'll make you do a 180 with your neck!"

"Whoa, whoa, who said anything about that, Esther?" Griffin exclaimed, throwing up his hands. He then turned his attention to the Blue Ranger, who had grown mysteriously quiet. "What about you, Niko? You up for a sleepover?"

He received no response, puzzling him somewhat. However once he realized that Niko wasn't wearing his sunglasses anymore, he understood. The Red Ranger tapped his Blue counterpart on the shoulder to get his attention, then began performing American Sign Language. " _You going home or crashing here?"_

Niko shook his head, then signed back, _"The wife's pissed, I gotta head back home."_

" _Ah, gotcha."_

Turning towards him, Esther interjected with a sign of her own. " _See you tomorrow, then!"_

" _Later,"_ With that, Niko hopped into his van and started it up. He then pulled out of the parking lot and headed home, leaving Griffin and Esther to head inside the cafe for the night…

* * *

**xXRocketShark216Xx Proudly Presents…**

**Power Rangers: VS**

* * *

**Episode 1: The Road to Victory (Part I of III)**

"...man, those Victory Rangers are awesome, aren't they?!"

"I can't believe they took down another Fossilli Family member!"

"I wonder who they'll take down next!"

Griffin Steinmann listened to the idle chatter between those around him from atop the trunk of his car, a red 2008 Nissan Sentra. He let out an amused snort, then took another bite of the double cheeseburger he was eating. Meanwhile, Esther Ansari stood in a nearby alley, where she growled in frustration as she fiddled with an old vending machine.

"Goddammit, this stupid thing ate my dollar!" She grabbed ahold of the machine and violently shook it in an attempt to free her item, to no avail. She then had an idea; glancing over her shoulders to ensure no one was watching, she whipped out her blaster, which she used to shoot the vending machine. After turning her body so that the broken glass wouldn't cut her, she turned back to face the now-broken machine before reaching inside and grabbing a bag of chips and a bottle of soda.

With that, she emerged from the alley. Looking up at Griffin, she addressed him by saying, "Hey Grif, we might wanna bounce…"

Spotting the stolen chips and soda in her hands, Griffin replied, "I asked you if you wanted anything from Wendy's!"

"Stolen food tastes better," She shrugged.

"Whatever," Griffin hopped down off of his trunk, throwing what was left of his burger into a nearby trash can. He then fished his keys out of his pocket, using them to unlock his vehicle before climbing inside. As Esther hopped into the passenger seat beside him, he turned to her, then added, "Mr. Meaux's taking too long anyway…"

With that, he put his key in the ignition and started the car. He put it in reverse, then slowly began to back out. Before he could leave the parking lot, however, his interest was piqued by the frustrated mumbles of a man sitting on a nearby bench.

" _Why...those damn thieves!"_ A very familiar Japanese American man muttered under his breath, clutching a newspaper with a front page headline about the previous night's events in his hands. Crumpling it into a ball, he stood from the bench and prepared to toss it into a nearby trash can, only to be interrupted before he could do so.

"Hey, Mister!" Griffin hollered, poking his head out of his rolled-down car window. This quickly gained the attention of the SPD cadet, whom he addressed again by saying, "You're gonna miss that shot, y'know!"

Ignoring him, the older man scoffed and threw the newspaper anyway. It hurtled through the air and hit the side of the trash can, only to fall onto the ground and roll onto the nearby sidewalk.

"Told you," Griffin said with a smirk, earning a glare from the cadet. The Red Ranger leaned back inside and rolled up his window, and Esther giggled as the SPD cadet grew visibly angry.

"Young man, pick up your litter!" An elderly woman chastised the cadet, who sheepishly ducked down and scooped up the discarded trash before disposing of it properly.

"Man, that's _awesome_!" Esther said with a laugh. As Griffin pulled out of his parking space and left the parking lot, she felt her pocket buzz, so she pulled her phone out and answered it. "You rang…?"

"This is Mr. Meaux. My apologies for the delay, Ms. Ansari." A gentleman on the other end of the line replied, his voice carrying a hint of a French accent. "I had some...business to attend to. Is Mr. Steinmann with you?"

"Yeah, he's driving right now." Esther informed him. "We still on?"

"I still intend to meet you, my dear. However, it seems I no longer have enough time to drive all the way downtown," He told her. "Would you mind swinging by the Manor instead?"

"Will do. On our way now," With that, Esther hung up the phone. She then turned to Griffin before saying, "Change of plans, Mr. Meaux wants to meet at the mansion."

"That would've been nice to know before we left this morning," Griffin complained, putting his car into drive and making his way onto the main road. "Hopefully he'll spot me some gas money..."

"Maybe if you ate before we left instead of getting fast food you'd be able to afford it on your own," Esther teased him.

"Says the girl who wasted a dollar on a vending machine she ended up vandalizing anyway," Griffin shot back.

"I didn't plan on shooting it until _after_ it stole my dollar, blockhead!"

" _Blockhead_?" Griffin replied, letting out a faux-gasp. "You slash me with your words!"

"Just shut up and drive, dumbass!"

* * *

"Hi, welcome to Cafe Jurer! How may I help you?"

Inside one of the city's most popular dining establishments, dozens and dozens of customers had gathered and were now waiting in line to order a cup of coffee. Standing behind the front counter was a barista: this was Nikolai "Niko" Kievsky, who wore a warm but disingenuous smile in addition to his trademark blue-lensed sunglasses. As the next customer reached the front of the line, he greeted him by saying, "Welcome to Cafe Jurer, may I take your order?"

"Yeah, I'll have a large iced coffee with extra sugar, annnnnd...hey babe?" The man turned to a woman sitting at a nearby booth, presumably his girlfriend. "What do you want?"

"I'll just have a sweet tea," She said with a smile, prompting the man to turn his attention back to Niko.

"One large iced coffee with extra sugar and a large sweet tea, then?" The man nodded, prompting Niko to ring up the order using the computer terminal in front of him. "Okay, that'll be $3-"

Suddenly, the Russian American man paused, as the bold white text running down the inside of his lenses momentarily halted. With his only method of communicating with most people on the fritz, Niko suddenly felt the silence in the room begin to choke the life out of him. All around him, people idly chatted, moving their mouths as they conversed, but he couldn't hear a single word of it. Dazed and confused, he gently tapped the side of his eyewear, desperately trying to get it to work again.

"-Hello…? Sir, are you alright…?" The man said in a concerned tone. As the words he'd just said ran down the inner-lenses of his sunglasses, Niko internally sighed in relief.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry for spacing out like that…" Niko took a moment to regain his composure, then added, "That'll be $3.50, sir."

"Here ya go," The man handed him a five dollar bill, then added, "Keep the change."

"Thanks." Niko opened the cash register and deposited the bill, then closed it, turned, and made his way over to the coffee machine. He spent the next minute and a half skillfully making the couple's drinks, then poured them into plastic cups, carefully secured dome lids onto the top, and carried them over to the counter. After printing off a receipt, he handed it to the man along with the drinks before saying, "Have a good day, sir!"

"Thanks, you too." With that, the man carried his order over to the booth his girlfriend was sitting at, and the next customer in line stepped up to the counter.

_God we're busy…_ Niko thought to himself, as he continued to man the cafe by himself. _What's taking Grif and Est so long…?_


	2. Episode 1: The Road to Victory (Part II)

**Episode 1: The Road to Victory (Part II of III)**

" _Man, I'm tired…"_ An African American cadet in her mid twenties said to herself as she sat in one of SPD HQ's many operation rooms, stretching her arms until she heard her bones snap softly. She let out a yawn, then added, " _These late night patrols are really doing a number on me…"_

"Morning, Sasha!" A male voice said in a chipper tone, as a Mexican American cadet a few years her junior stepped into the room and placed a mug of coffee on the table in front of her. "How're you, this morning?"

"Exhausted…" She groaned, grabbing the mug and taking a sip of coffee. She then eyed him with slight bemusement and said, "And what about you, um…?"

"Eddie Suarez reporting for duty, ma'am!" He said with a salute, realizing she didn't know his name. He then relaxed his posture before adding, "And to answer your question, I'm doing great!"

"I'm not sure _how;_ last night was brutal..." She rubbed her temples tiredly, blinking her brown eyes opened and closed several times in an attempt to wake up more. She took another sip of coffee, then continued with, "Anyway, nice to meet you, Eddie. I'm-"

"Sasha Burrise, I know!" He said excitedly, cutting her off mid-sentence. "You graduated from the Academy with top marks, set a record for the highest written exam score in SPD history, _and_ you're second-in-command of C-Squad! You're practically a legend around here!"

"I wouldn't go that far…" Sasha said modestly, rubbing the back of her head. "Anyway, I'm looking forward to working with-"

Suddenly, the double doors to the room slid open to reveal a tall and broad-shouldered bird-like alien wearing a white and orange SPD uniform. As he strode into the room, Sasha bolted up out of her seat and she and Eddie both stood at attention and saluted him.

"Captain Farukon, sir!"

"At ease," The Captain waved them off, prompting them to sit down at the table as he made his way over to his desk. "Congratulations on last night's patrol, you two. I've decided to reward you for your hard work with a little present."

He then gestured towards a white box sitting on the table, which Eddie opened up to reveal-

"Donuts!" He said with child-like excitement. "Thank you, Captain!"

"That's not in the budget!" A new voice exclaimed. Padding its way into the room, a sleek white robot with a blue police hat turned towards the Captain and said, "With all due respect, sir, I've been crunching the numbers and-"

"John Doe, hard at work as always!" The Captain said, cutting him off. He patted the robot on the head, then added, "You're a very skilled accountant."

"I'm not _just_ an accountant, y'know! I do lots of stuff around here, and I'm very good at my job!" John Doe said in slight annoyance. He then gestured towards the other two before saying, " _These_ guys, on the other hand, failed to apprehend Giocrana last night!"

"Hey, that wasn't our fault! The Victory Rangers showed up and gunned him down before we had a chance to arrest him!" Sasha countered defensively.

"All the more reason to bring _them_ in as quickly as possible!"

"Why? They aren't hurting anyone, are they?" Eddie chimed in, shocking everyone else. "I mean, they've been taking the Fossilli Family down a peg or two, which is something we currently lack the ability or the equipment to do. If anything, the Victory Rangers are help-"

"-Suarez!" A new voice hollered, as Cadet Kajo stepped into the room. This prompted Eddie to pause mid-sentence, as the older cadet made his way over to him and pointed at him accusingly. "What kind of an attitude is that?!"

"Isamu! Sir, I-"

"Save it! In case you've forgotten, those Victory Rangers are thieves! Furthermore, they're not affiliated with SPD, and they're eliminating the perps we're chasing!" Isamu reminded him. "By gunning down the Fossillis without a fair trial, they're obstructing justice and taking the law into their own hands! Besides that, the Fossili Family is _our_ jurisdiction! By allowing vigilantes to dispose of them for us, we're failing to perform our civic duty! We cannot allow this to continue!"

"I'm sorry, sir!" Eddie shouted apologetically with a respectful dip of his head. Meanwhile, Sasha tapped her chin, appearing to be deep in thought.

"I wonder what the Victories are after, anyway…" She thought aloud.

"That's obvious! They're after the Lupin Collection that every Fossilli Family member carries a piece of!" John Doe told her. He pressed a few buttons on his left wrist, causing a holographic image of several Collection pieces to project itself onto his stomach. "Each piece contains mysterious magical powers, and the Fossillis tote them around inside the safes on their bodies!"

"So the Victories are stealing the Collection pieces from the Fossillis one by one…" Isamu observed, stroking his chin. "But what's their endgame…?"

* * *

Inside a massive mansion on the outskirts of New Tech City, a tall and lean French man in a fancy black suit sat behind a large desk in a spacious and cozy study. As he idly flipped through the pages of a worn out tome, the wooden double doors to the room swung open to reveal Griffin and Esther.

"Merry Christmas," Griffin quipped, tossing the Collection piece he'd stolen from Giocrana the previous night onto the desk rather carelessly before plopping into a leather chair opposite the man in the suit. As Esther sat down next to him, the man in the suit looked up from his book and carefully picked up the artifact.

"Gambler's Dice...been a long time since I've seen this one," The man adjusted a pair of black-lensed sunglasses he was wearing, then turned the book to a specific page before gently placing the Collection Piece on top of it. He watched as the relic sunk into the page and disappeared, then turned his attention to the other two before saying, "Good work."

"How many more pieces are there?" Esther questioned, reaching for the tome only for the man to suddenly shut it and slide it inside one of his desk drawers.

"I'm afraid that's on a need-to-know basis and you do not need to know, Ms. Ansari." He said cryptically, clasping both of his hands together. As Esther folded her arms and scowled at him, he added, "Just keep bringing me Collection pieces and I'll let you know when you can stop."

"Alright Mr. Meaux, we'll keep playing along," Griffin told him. He then leaned closer to the desk before adding, "Just make sure that _you_ keep your promise."

"You have my word, Mr. Steinmann. Once all of the Pieces have been recovered, my master will grant you, Mr. Kievsky, and Ms. Ansari whatever you desire," Mr. Meaux reached inside his suit jacket, producing a white envelope with a red seal that he then handed to Griffin. "This is your next target. Remember, failure is _not_ an option."

"Please," The Red Ranger scoffed, taking the envelope and stuffing it into the pocket of his jeans. He and Esther then stood from their chairs and made their way towards the door. Before they left, he gave Mr. Meaux a final wave. "Adieu~!"

* * *

**~Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location somewhere in the ghettos of New Tech City…~**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOSS!"

Don Tyrannus Fossilli let out an amused snort as he stepped out into the dining room of his lair. Standing in front of a long table, several members of his Fossilli Family of alien mobsters clapped their hands, applauding the arrival of their leader. The red, gold, and silver tyrannosaurus rex-like alien strode further into the room, revelling in the adoration of his underlings. As he neared the table, a blue oviraptor-like alien walked up to him and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Welcome to your one-thousandth birthday party, darling! I organized all of this just for you!"

"Why thank you, Gatlor," Don Tyrannus replied, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her closer to him. "A mob boss couldn't ask for a better wife!"

With that, the two made their way over to the table. Don Tyrannus pulled out the last chair on the left side of the table and gestured toward it, prompting his wife to sit down. Once she scooted in and made herself comfortable, he took a seat next to her at the head of the table.

"Congratulations on another fantastic year, Don Tyrannus!" A green, orange, and gray dilophosaurus-like alien sitting to the right of the Fossilli Family leader said, dipping his head in a sign of respect.

"Thank you very much, Dilophoom. You're the best second-in-command in the galaxy!" Don Tyrannus grabbed a glass of wine sitting in front of him and took a quick sip before addressing the rest of the table, saying, "Everyone, your attention, please!"

The idle chatter that filled the room immediately died down, as everyone directed their attention to their boss. With their eyes fixed on him, Don Tyrannus began his speech.

"First things first, I'd like to thank each and every single one of you for attending my birthday party. I appreciate you all from the bottom of my heart; I couldn't have made it this long without you!" He took another sip of his wine, then continued, saying, "With that out of the way, I'd like to say something. For the last five hundred years, I've robbed, extorted, tortured, and killed countless people all across the galaxy with all of you at my side! It's been a fun ride, but I'm beginning to wear thin. It is with a heavy heart that I must make the following announcement: ...I've decided to retire."

This earned a collective gasp from everyone in the room. Standing up from their chairs, several Family members began to murmur and shout amongst one-another, once again filling the room with idle noise.

"You can't be serious!" A magenta, green, and yellow slug-like alien exclaimed.

"Who will lead us now?!" A silver and red penguin-like alien demanded.

"SILENCE!" Dilophoom boomed, slamming a large two-handed hammer onto the floor. Everyone in the room immediately stopped talking, allowing him to turn to Don Tyrannus and say, "Continue."

"Thank you, Dilophoom," Don Tyrannus took a breath before continuing with, "I understand if some of you are upset, and I also understand your confusion and concerns. Do not be afraid, however: before I retire, I will name a successor. I officially issue the following challenge: whichever one of you can successfully conquer the human world will inherit my criminal empire! Let's see which one of you has what it takes to lead my Family!"

As soon as he said this, the room exploded with noise once more. As everyone in the room began to shout and holler amongst themselves, a blue cat-like alien folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, letting out an amused snort.

" _Whoever takes over the human world is the next Boss, huh…?"_ He said to himself. " _Interesting…"_

* * *

"...Alright, we're back!" Griffin hollered as he and Esther walked in the front door of Cafe Jurer, causing the bell attached to its frame to ring loudly. Making their way through the crowd of customers, the two stepped behind the counter. After elbowing Niko to get his attention, Griffin added, "C'mon Niko, time to close up shop!"

"What…?" Niko questioned, scrunching up his face in confusion. "But we don't close until 5:30-"

"We've got that group reservation, remember?" Griffin pulled the envelope Mr. Meaux had given him out of his pocket and subtly waved it for Niko to see, then turned towards the customers waiting in line and said, "Sorry everyone, but we're gonna have to ask you to leave! We've gotta close for a private party!"

Realizing what was happening, Niko added, "We apologize for the inconvenience! Please come back tomorrow!"

With that, the trio quickly worked to close the cafe, serving drinks and food to those who'd already paid for their order and politely shuffling those who'd either already consumed their orders or had yet to order out the door. Within a matter of minutes, the dining area was empty, the front door was locked, and the lights were off. After making his way to the windows and shutting all of the blinds, Griffin turned and walked over to an empty table, where he opened the envelope before tossing its contents onto the wooden surface.

"Alright, here's our next target," He said, gesturing to a picture of a blue cat-like alien as Niko and Esther walked over and stood on either side of the table. "His name's Gematto, he's a jewel-thief who uses the Lion's Lighter to burn down the jewelry stores he robs. According to Mr. Meaux's intel, he likes to hide out in an abandoned warehouse over by the city docks."

"Seems like alot more private of a hideout than Giocrana's," Niko observed, picking up a second picture which depicted a map of the warehouse in question. "This guy's alot smarter than the other Fossillis we've fought so far…"

"Maybe so, but he's still no match for us!" Esther hollered. "Let's go kick his ass!"

* * *

Within the next half hour or so, Griffin and the others had donned their thief disguises and made their way to the warehouse. Sneaking past the Cranforos guarding the building, they stealthily climbed up to the roof, where they infiltrated the hideout via a metal hatch. They silently climbed down a series of wooden crates and onto the concrete floor of the warehouse, where they tiptoed past more Cranforos and continued to make their way towards their target.

Eventually, they reached a long, empty corridor with sand covering the floor. Griffin and Esther moved to cross the room, but Niko stretched both of his arms out in front of them, blocking their path.

" _Hold up,"_ He whispered, crouching down and grabbed a handful of sand. He then stood and tossed the sand in front of him, causing it to fly through the air and reveal a hidden grid of red lasers.

" _Nice one,"_ Griffin complimented his blue counterpart, patting him on the back. Together, the trio of thieves flipped, jumped, and vaulted their way across the room, narrowly managing to dodge the lasers and avoid detection. Once they reached the end of the room, they approached a locked metal door with an electronic keypad, which Niko placed his Blue Dial Zord onto.

"1-7-5!" The electronic voice announced, as the Blue Dial Zord hacked into the keypad and input the sequence of numbers necessary to unlock the door.

* * *

"Y'know what this means, right?" Gematto said to a pair of Cranforos, as they stood around a small mountain of stolen jewelry he'd collected. "I've got an actual chance of becoming the next Boss!"

"But...what about the Victory Rangers?" One of the Cranforos questioned. "What if they-"

"Let them come for me! Saves me the trouble of having to find 'em myself!" Gematto boomed. Unbeknownst to him, Griffin and the others were currently inside a vent directly above him, and were watching his every move. Whipping out a purple object that resembled an old zippo lighter, he added, "I'll wipe the floor with 'em and then I'll be unstoppable! Hahahaha!"

" _There's the Collection piece,"_ Niko whispered, pointing to the object in question.

" _What're we waiting for, then?"_ Esther replied. " _Let's go down there, kick his ass, and take it!"_

" _Not yet, Esther! We have to wait for the right mo-"_ Griffin suddenly paused mid-sentence, scrunching up his face as if he was about to sneeze. " _A...a...ach-"_

" _Oh no you don't!"_ Niko said, covering Griffin's nose with his gloved hand just in the nick of time. All three of the thieves waited with bated breath as Gematto suddenly stopped laughing. Looking around, the cat-like alien scanned the room for a few seconds before relaxing his posture. Griffin and the others assumed he hadn't realized they were there, but were proven wrong a few moments later when the Cranforos began pelting the vents with laser bolts.

"Whoaaaaa!" Griffin hollered, as he and the others were forcibly ejected from the vent as it imploded.

"Thought you could sneak up on me, eh?" Gematto snarled, turning to face the three as they awkwardly tumbled onto the floor below.

"You just _had_ to sneeze, didn't you?!" Esther said as she and the others rose to their feet, elbowing Griffin roughly in the side.

"Ow!" Griffin yowled. "Gimme a break, it's an involuntary bodily function!"

"Would you two knock it off?!" Niko said, lightly slapping both youths upside the head. "We've got bigger things to worry about right now!"

True to Niko's word, within moments they found themselves surrounded by Cranforos, who poured into the room from every possible angle.

"I'll admit that you punks have had a good run, but your luck just ran out!" Gematto boomed. "Time to die!"

"That's what you think!" Griffin said defiantly, as he and the other two brandished their blasters.

"Cranforos, attack!" At Gematto's command, the skeletal footsoldiers opened fire, sending dozens of laser bolts flying towards the intruders. Ducking down, the trio of thieves took cover behind the rubble created by the broken vent and then returned fire, beginning an intense shootout that threatened to bring the entire warehouse down…

* * *

"RED ALERT, RED ALERT!" John Doe suddenly said out of nowhere, startling Isamu and the others. "We're receiving reports of a Fossilli Family member causing trouble down by the docks!"

"Let's move out!" Isamu hollered, dashing towards the door with Eddie and Sasha following close behind. "This time, we'll make the arrest!"

Before they could leave, however, they were blindsided by the arrival of an SPD technician, who rushed into the room, set a silver briefcase down on the table, and then ran back out. Seeing this, Captain Farukon clasped both of his hands together, then spoke.

"So they've finally arrived!" He said rather cryptically, prompting the three C-Squad cadets to turn and face him. He then opened the briefcase and turned it around for the others to see its contents before adding, "C-Squad, it's time you become acquainted with your new tech!"

"No way…" Eddie said, his mouth gaped open in awe…

* * *

Back at the warehouse, Griffin and the others continued to fight their way through the small army of Cranforos at Gematto's command. Esther punched and kicked her way through the alien goons, softening their up before taking them out with wild shots from her blaster. Niko was a bit more precise, taking the footsoldiers out with calculated headshots whilst narrowly avoiding their return fire. Meanwhile, Griffin grabbed one of the thugs by the arm and threw it into a pile of oil drums, sending them rolling forward. As his foes tripped over the drums, he gunned them down mercilessly, then focused his attention on Gematto.

"Take this!" He hollered, rapidly firing several laser bolts at the cat-like alien as he ran towards him.

"Nice try!" Gematto taunted, swatting the projectiles away from his claws before shooting bursts of flame from his paws. " _My_ turn!"

"Whoa…!" Griffin shouted as he clumsily dodged the flames. Ducking behind a nearby pillar, he turned to the others and said, "This guy is one tough customer!"

"What's the matter?" Gematto began, shooting flames at Niko and Esther as they attempted to rush him. As they narrowly dove out of the way of his attacks, he continued, "Can't take the heat?!"

"I never said that!" Griffin shouted defiantly, rushing out from behind the pillar and flicking a whole stack of red cards at his opponent. Gematto burned the cards with his flames as they flew towards him; while he was blinded by the smoke, Niko and Esther lunged at him from behind, grabbing him by the arms and restraining him.

"Looks like you underestimated us, huh?" Niko taunted.

"It doesn't matter how tough or how smart you are! None of you Fossillis are a match for us!" Esther hollered. "Griffin, now!"

"Right!" With that, Griffin dashed forward, reaching into his tuxedo and producing his Red Dial Zord. He then charged towards Gematto, preparing to steal his Collection piece as his teammates forcibly held him in place. "Gotcha now!"

"That's what _you_ think!" Gematto roared. Out of nowhere, he sprouted two more arms out of his back, which he then used to slash at Griffin once he was within range. Griffin leapt backward out of shock, his now-shredded top hat collapsing to the floor as it fell off of his head. Gematto then used his new arms to smack Niko and send him tumbling to the floor; he stomped on the blue-clad thief's stomach before turning his attention to Esther, whom he backhanded before grabbing her by the neck.

"Niko! Esther!" Griffin screamed, watching helplessly as his now-unmasked companions were held hostage by Gematto.

"You stupid brats really think the Collection pieces are our only source of power?!" The cat-like alien guffawed. "We Fossillis were widely feared across the galaxy _long before_ we got our hands on the Collection! Now what's it gonna be, Red?! You gonna bolt and keep trying to play thief, or are you gonna die here with your buddies?!"

Clenching his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white, Griffin glared at Gematto, his sapphire blue eyes burning with anger...


	3. Episode 1: The Road to Victory (Part III)

**Episode 1: The Road to Victory (Part III of III)**

_What's the matter?" Gematto began, shooting flames at Niko and Esther as they attempted to rush him. As they narrowly dove out of the way of his attacks, he continued, "Can't take the heat?!"_

_"I never said that!" Griffin shouted defiantly, rushing out from behind the pillar and flicking a whole stack of red cards at his opponent. Gematto burned the cards with his flames as they flew towards him; while he was blinded by the smoke, Niko and Esther lunged at him from behind, grabbing him by the arms and restraining him._

_"Looks like you underestimated us, huh?" Niko taunted._

_"It doesn't matter how tough or how smart you are! None of you Fossillis are a match for us!" Esther hollered. "Griffin, now!"_

_"Right!" With that, Griffin dashed forward, reaching into his tuxedo and producing his Red Dial Zord. He then charged towards Gematto, preparing to steal his Collection piece as his teammates forcibly held him in place. "Gotcha now!"_

_"That's what you think!" Gematto roared. Out of nowhere, he sprouted two more arms out of his back, which he then used to slash at Griffin once he was within range. Griffin leapt backward out of shock, his now-shredded top hat collapsing to the floor as it fell off of his head. Gematto then used his new arms to smack Niko and send him tumbling to the floor; he stomped on the blue-clad thief's stomach before turning his attention to Esther, whom he backhanded before grabbing her by the neck._

_"Niko! Esther!" Griffin screamed, watching helplessly as his now-unmasked companions were held hostage by Gematto._

_"You stupid brats really think the Collection pieces are our only source of power?!" The cat-like alien guffawed. "We Fossillis were widely feared across the galaxy long before we got our hands on the Collection! Now what's it gonna be, Red?! You gonna bolt and keep trying to play thief, or are you gonna die here with your buddies?!"_

_Clenching his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white, Griffin glared at Gematto, his sapphire blue eyes burning with anger…_

* * *

"You brats may've gotten lucky with the others, but you're not gonna beat me!" Gematto boomed, scooping Niko up off of the ground and forcing him back to his feet before tightening his grip on the blue-clad thief. As Griffin continued to glare at him in anger, he added, "Those other assholes that you took down were weak! They brought shame to the name of the Fossilli Family...but not me! I'm gonna put you down like the worthless pests that you are!"

"Thanks for the heads up," Griffin spat.

"Now I'm gonna ask you this one more time...are you gonna bail on me, or die trying to save your friends?!" Gematto began charging a fireball in the palm of one of his free hands, which he then aimed at Griffin.

As he continued to glare at the alien, Griffin felt a memory unearth itself in the back of his mind…

* * *

" _We're all after the same thing…" Esther said as she, Niko, and Griffin all stood inside the dark interior of what would soon become Cafe Jurer. Gathering around a table, the three pulled out their blasters, which they then crossed like swords._

" _Tonight, we swear an oath!" Griffin shouted._

* * *

"We...made a promise," Griffin said solemnly, lowering his blaster. He then reached his left hand up to his face, removing his masquerade mask and tossing it aside. "Even if one of us dies...the others will carry on…"

"So you're gonna die together then? Aww, how touching!" Gematto let out an evil laugh, then thrust the hand with the fireball forward, sending a wave of fire hurtling towards Griffin. "Looks like your days of playing phantom thief are over!"

"Not by a longshot!" Griffin hollered defiantly, diving out of the way of the fire. As he landed on the floor on his back, he aimed his blaster at the ceiling above them and fired wildly, causing the roof to cave in.

"What the hell-?!" Gematto exclaimed in shock, tossing Niko and Esther aside and using all four of his arms to slice away at the massive chunks of debris that were falling down. Within moments, everyone but Griffin was buried…

"...why, you!" Gematto roared as he tore out from under the debris, having miraculously survived. "You buried your friends with me, you lunatic!"

"I told you, we made a promise!" Griffin shouted, looking as if he was on the verge of tears. "No matter who among us falls, the survivors will keep on fighting and make everyone's dreams come true!"

"You're delusional, kid!"

"You don't know the half of it," Griffin said with a smirk. As the concrete beneath their feet began to shake a little bit, he added, "You are, too, if you think that's all it'd take to kill them!"

"What are you-?!" Before Gematto could finish his sentence, the floor next to Griffin exploded from underneath to reveal Niko and Esther, who leapt out of the gap and landed next to him. "They're alive?! But how?!"

"We tunneled underneath, _obviously_ ," Niko told him. "We knew Griffin wasn't going to try and save us."

"After all, those are the rules!" Esther added.

"You still don't get it, do you…? This isn't a game," Griffin said, as Niko and Esther formed up on either side of him. "We're phantom thieves who put their lives on the line!"

"It's Morphin' Time!" The three shouted in unison, moving their blasters to their left hands and whipping out their Dial Zords with their right. "Victorise!"

"Victorise!" The electronic voice echoed out of their blasters as they slotted their Zords onto the sides and turned the dials on top of them until they clicked. They each then pulled the lever on the back of their morpher, allowing them to change the orientation of the blaster's barrel so that the Zords sat on top. "Ready?!"

"FIRE!" All three of them then pulled the trigger, initiating their morphing sequence.

**~Victory Rangers Morphing Sequence~**

A red card flew out of the barrel of Griffin's blaster, unfolding and releasing a silver top hat-shaped badge with a V engraved onto it. The card hit his body and covered it in a white form-fitting spandex suit, which instantly filled with color. A red suit jacket materialized over his top half and black pants materialized over his bottom half; the two were separated by a black belt with a silver belt buckle. The silver badge flew towards his body and attached itself to his chest, causing a black cape to fasten around his neck and unfurl, going down to about his mid-back. Finally, a black top-hat fell from the sky and landed on Griffin's head, transforming into a black and red helmet with a red angular top-hat shaped visor.

The same thing happened to Niko and Esther, only the cards, jackets, and helmets/visors were in blue and yellow, respectively. Niko's visor was a bit more squared off than Griffin's, while Esther's had a bit of a heart shape to it.

Within moments, the transformation was complete…

**~End Morphing Sequence~**

"The Daring Thief," Griffin hollered, snapping his fingers before striking a pose with his blaster. "Red Victory Ranger!"

"The Dexterous Thief," Niko said coolly, snapping his fingers before striking his own pose. "Blue Victory Ranger!"

"The Agile Thief," Esther shouted, snapping her fingers and performing her own pose. "Yellow Victory Ranger!"

"Snatching up a win at blinding speed," All three began, regrouping and striking a group pose. Grabbing their capes by the hem and thrusting them behind them, they shouted triumphantly: "Victory Rangers!"

"You think you're hot shit, do ya?!" Gematto roared, taking a fighting stance.

"I'm only telling you this once…" Griffin said, raising his blaster. "Your treasure is **MINE!"**

* * *

"Wahhhhh!"

Gematto screamed at the top of his lungs as he flew through the outermost wall of the warehouse and was flung outside onto the pavement. Leaping out after him, Griffin, Niko, and Esther repeatedly pelted the alien mobster with laser bolts. As the projectiles sparked off of his body, Gematto retaliated by shooting flames at his foes.

Ducking backward to avoid the fire being launched at her, Esther bicycle-kicked in the opposite direction in order to avoid the subsequent swipe from Gematto's claws.

Vaulting into the air to avoid another pillar of flame, Niko somersaulted past Gematto, shooting the alien several times in the head and chest before landing on the other side of him.

Finally, Griffin ducked into a slide and shot upwards, hitting Gematto several times in the torso. He then leapt up to his feet, kicked his opponent in the shoulder with his right leg, and punched him in the other shoulder with his left fist. As the Red Ranger twisted his body around delivering a flurry of different attacks, Gematto swiped at his back with his claws.

"What the…?" He said in slight confusion, looking down to see that the Red Victory Ranger had blocked the attack using a new sword-like weapon in his left hand.

"Victory Saber!" Griffin hollered, naming the new weapon as he twisted back around to face Gematto directly. He then resumed attacking him, slashing at him wildly with his Victory Saber while occasionally shooting at him with his Victory Blaster.

Eventually, Griffin back-flipped away from Gematto and Niko and Esther took this opportunity to close in on the alien, materializing their own Victory Sabers before rejoining their red counterpart in his fight. The battle continued to wear on, increasing in intensity with every passing second.

As the Victory Rangers slowly but surely wore Gematto out, the alien mobster's attacks grew frantic and more desperate. Dodging his swipes and bursts of flames almost effortlessly, Niko aimed his Victory Blaster at the alien's mid-section and rapidly pulled the trigger, sending several laser bolts directly into his sternum. Next, Griffin pistol-whipped Gematto on the head with his Victory Blaster before slashing at his chest with his Victory Saber. Finally, Esther lunged at the cat-alien while raising her own Victory Saber; together, the three Rangers brought their swords down on Gematto with all their might, delivering a powerful three-pronged slash before digging their blaster barrels directly into his chest and shooting him at point-blank range.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Gematto yelped as he flew backward, smashing into a nearby brick wall before falling onto the ground.

"Time to get what we came for," Griffin said as Gematto struggled back up to his feet, pulling the lever on his Victory Blaster in order to twist the barrel sideways and remove his Red Dial Zord. Holding the Zord in his left hand, he slowly approached the bruised and battered alien, intending to crack his safe open and steal his Collection piece.

Before he could reach Gematto, however, he was cut off by the sound of blaring sirens. Out of nowhere, an SPD police cruiser burst onto the scene and swerved to a halt - the next thing Griffin knew, he was flinching as several laser bolts pelted his side.

"FREEZE! SPD!" Isamu hollered as he exited the police car alongside Eddie and Sasha. Rather curiously, all three were brandishing new blasters - blasters that looked nearly _identical_ to the ones used by the Victory Rangers!

"Hey, what the-?!" Niko shouted, gesturing to the new weapons.

"Those are Victory Blasters!" Esther exclaimed.

"Why do they have Collection pieces?!" Griffin chimed in, just as confused and outraged as the others.

Whipping out his SPD badge, Isamu held it in his left hand and raised it for everyone to see. He then began with, "By the authority of SPD,"

"Gematto and you Victory Rangers," Eddie continued, flashing his own badge.

"Are all under arrest!" Sasha finished, revealing her own badge.

"You guys ready?!" Isamu asked his teammates whilst whipping out a red and white police car-esque trinket.

"Ready!" Eddie and Sasha replied in unison, pulling out their own police car-esque trinkets (green and white for Eddie, pink and white for Sasha).

"SPD: Emergency!" All three cadets shouted in unison, as they slotted their new trinkets onto their blasters. They then pulled the levers in the back and rotated the barrels so that the trinkets faced downward. Aiming the weapons into the sky above them, they each pulled the trigger whilst shouting, "FIRE!"

**~C-Squad Rangers Morphing Sequence~**

Soaring out of his blaster barrel and into the air above him, a red police badge with an S engraved onto it gently floated down towards Isamu's body, covering it in a white form-fitting spandex suit. Parts of it then filled with color, turning red. Finally, a golden version of the police badge slammed onto his forehead and a red helmet with a black police hat-esque visor and a silver mouthplate formed around the badge.

The same process occurred with Eddie and Sasha, only the police badges and suit colors were green and pink, respectively.

Within moments, their transformation was complete…

**~End Morphing Sequence~**

"One," Isamu declared, holding up his left index finger. "SPD Red Ranger!"

"Two," Eddie chimed in, holding up his left index and middle fingers and parting them to form a V-shape. "SPD Green Ranger!"

"Three," Sasha hollered, holding up her left thumb and left index and middle fingers. "SPD Pink Ranger!"

"Space Patrol Delta," All three of them shouted in unison, striking a group pose with their blasters. "Defenders of Earth!"

"But...wait...what…?" Griffin said in complete confusion. Together, he, Niko, and Esther stood in absolute shock, struggling to comprehend what was happening…

_**To Be Continued in Episode 2: "Rise of the C-Squad"!** _


	4. Episode 2: Rise of the C-Squad (Part I)

Griffin, Niko, Esther…three youths who seek to recover the mysterious treasures collectively known as the Lupin Collection. In their quest to procure the Collection pieces, they have donned the mantle of Victory Rangers and battled against the infamous Fossilli Family of intergalactic criminals!

However…

* * *

_"FREEZE! SPD!" Isamu hollered as he exited the police car alongside Eddie and Sasha. Rather curiously, all three were brandishing new blasters - blasters that looked nearly identical to the ones used by the Victory Rangers!_

_"Why do they have Collection pieces?!" Griffin exclaimed angrily._

_"SPD: Emergency!" All three cadets shouted in unison, slotting their new police-car like trinkets onto their blasters before twisting the barrels and aiming them at the sky. "FIRE!"_

" _Space Patrol Delta," They boomed. "Defenders of Earth!"_

_"But...wait...what…?" Griffin said in complete confusion. Together, he, Niko, and Esther stood in absolute shock, struggling to comprehend what was happening…_

* * *

After finishing their rollcall, Isamu, Eddie, and Sasha wasted no time moving in. "We're bringing you in by force!" The Red C-Squad Ranger hollered, as he and his two teammates dashed towards their foes and began firing at them with their blasters. As they neared their targets, he named the weapon, saying, "Delta Defender!"

"You just _had_ to stick your nose where it doesn't belong!" Niko growled, standing his ground as Eddie bounded up to him. As the young rookie charged towards him, he fired a few shots his way before aiming up at a nearby crane and shooting its hook, causing a dangling metal crate to plumet towards the Green Ranger.

"Woahhhhhh!" Eddie shouted clumsily, instinctively flinching whilst thrusting his left fist upward. To his amazement, he punched through the crate, causing it to break into several pieces and preventing it from crushing him. As he looked down at his fist in awe, he said, "I think...we can take on the Fossillis, now!"

Watching this from the sidelines, Esther tightened her grip on her Victory Blaster in anger. "Why does SPD have Collection pieces…?!"

"I'm wondering the same thing," Sasha said, having snuck up on her. As she held the Yellow Ranger at gunpoint, she added, "Where did you get such dangerous tech? Who are you working for?!"

"*Tch*...as if that's _any_ of your business!" Esther spat, backhanding the Pink Ranger with her Victory Blaster before delivering a swift roundhouse kick. Sasha struggled to maintain her footing, re-aiming her Delta Defender at her target once she regained her footing before firing wildly.

" _Two_ Ranger teams…?!" Gematto exclaimed, his tone equal parts shocked and enraged. "What the heck is going on?!"

"You're all going down!" Isamu hollered, firing several shots at Gematto as he continued to charge both him and Griffin. The Red Victory Ranger planted his feet firmly on the ground and fired several blaster bolts at the incoming C-Squad Ranger, who crouched to avoid the projectiles before retaliating with shots of his own. Bursting in out of nowhere, Niko kicked Isamu's hand and then sent a swift left hook his way as the SPD cadet hopped up to his feet. Isamu took the opportunity to grab the Blue Victory Ranger's left wrist, then swatted his right hand away with his free hand as he attempted to shoot him in the face. Niko quickly powered out of the hold, and as he and the other Victories continued their fight with C-Squad, Gematto began silently tip-toeing away from the scene…

"Oh no you don't!" Griffin hollered, shooting the cat-alien in the back and causing him to fall forward onto his knees. Seizing the opportunity, Isamu dashed towards the downed Fossilli Family member and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him up to his feet.

"You're under arrest!" He declared, whipping out what appeared to be a Containment Card. 

"I beg to differ!" Griffin boomed, rushing the rival Red Ranger out of nowhere and tackling him into a nearby oil drum.

"What are you trying to pull…?!" Isamu demanded, as both Red Rangers hopped back up to their feet

"We can't have you arresting him just yet!" Griffin shouted defiantly, firing a single blaster bolt that his opponent effortlessly dodged. As the two Reds rushed one-another and resumed their brawl, Gematto slowly stood back up and began to edge away from the scene once more.

"I don't understand what's going on, but thanks for the help!" He taunted, dashing towards a nearby wooden crate and using it to vault into the air.

"Gematto's making a run for it!" Niko gestured towards the escaping alien and everyone turned to look in that direction, but it was too late. Enraged, he and the other two Victory Rangers turned their attention on their SPD counterparts. Each team aimed their blasters at the other as they regrouped.

"Your interference caused this!" Isamu shouted accusingly.

" _You're_ the ones who butt in!" Griffin shot back.

"Save your excuses for the interrogation room!" Sasha replied.

"We've got better things to do than play along with the whole 'good cop, bad cop' routine," Esther sneered, and with that all three Victory Rangers pulled the levers on their blasters, twisted the barrels back and forth, and then whipped around to face the other direction. As they pulled the triggers, the electronic voice echoed out of their morphers once more.

"Dial Zords, take flight!" Flying off of the top of their blasters, the Dial Zords all three grew ten times their size. "R-R-R-Red! B-B-B-Blue! Y-Y-Y-Yellow!"

Vaulting into the air, the phantom thieves boarded their respective vehicles as they changed direction and soared up into the sky.

"Cadets, you know what to do!" Captain Farukon ordered, his voice echoing from the C-Squad Rangers' comm-link. "Deploy the Siren Runners!"

"Right!" Isamu hollered, and together he, Eddie, and Sasha pulled the levers on the back of their Delta Defenders and twisted their barrels back and forth. They then pulled the trigger, causing a similar electronic voice to echo out of their morphers.

"Siren Runner I, Siren Runner II, Siren Runner III: DEPLOY!" The Siren Runners detached themselves from the Delta Defenders, twisted through the air until they were right-side up, and then landed on the ground. Speeding across the pavement, they grew ten times their size, prompting the C-Squad Rangers to leap into the air and board the massive police vehicles...

* * *

" _Dag nabbit…"_ Griffin muttered under his breath from the cockpit of his Dial Zord, thinking he'd escaped. However, his bittersweet victory was cut short when the Siren Runners burst onto the freeway below him and the others, police sirens drowning the air with noise.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" Isamu shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing from Siren Runner I's outer speaker system.

" _So it's gonna be like that, then…"_ Niko observed, gripping the controls on his Zord's control panel tightly.

"Bring it on!" Esther hollered, her tone full of defiance. With that, the chase was on…

* * *

**Episode 2: Rise of the C-Squad (Part I of III)**

Flying over the nearby freeway, the Victory Rangers continued their attempted escape in their Dial Zords. Pushing their new Siren Runners to their absolute limits, the C-Squad Rangers continued to pursue their rivals. Neither side was willing to give in or surrender; they would fight to the finish in order to procure the outcome they wanted.

Esther made a sharp left with her Yellow Dial Zord, trying desperately to shake Eddie's Siren Runner II but to no avail. With no other options, she pressed a button on her Zord's cockpit and then swiped at a holographic "start" prompt that appeared, causing it to spin as the buzzsaw on the back of her Zord unfolded and cut into a billboard attached to a nearby building.

"Woahhhhhh!" Eddie shouted clumsily, slamming on the brakes and bringing his Zord to a screeching halt as the billboard came crashing down in front of him. He pressed a button on his own cockpit and swiped at his own start prompt, causing a cannon on the front of Siren Runner II to unfold and blow a hole through the makeshift barricade. With the obstruction cleared, he stomped on the gas and sped through, continuing his pursuit.

Chasing the Blue Dial Zord up onto an overpass, Sasha brought up her own start prompt and swiped at it, deploying a police-baton on the front of Siren Runner III.

"Try and dodge this!" She hollered, veering to the right so that her Zord came up off of its left set of wheels and the baton shot up diagonally in the air.

"Jesus Christ!" Niko exclaimed in surprise, swerving to the left just in time to avoid smacking into the baton at full-speed. He then flew behind a building and used it as cover as he activated his own start prompt, deploying the gatling gun on the rear of his Zord. As he retaliated with a volley of machine gun fire, he shouted, "Eat this!"  
Meanwhile, Griffin spun out and then soared under an overpass. As the Red Dial Zord narrowly squeezed its way between the overpass and the road below it, Siren Runner I dove off of the overpass and onto the underpass, much to the Red Victory Ranger's shock.

"Ah crap-!" Griffin shouted, barrel-rolling to avoid incoming fire from Siren Runner I. Twisting around so that he was behind the Red SPD Ranger's Zord, he fired a volley of missiles at his foe in the hopes of shaking him. As Isamu swerved to a halt, he flew past, taunting him with a final, "Adieu~!"

"Oh no you don't…!" Isamu growled, slamming his fist on a button on his dash and slapping the holographic start prompt that appeared. Siren Runner I then transformed, extending its front section to reveal a large red wheel in the center of the hood. "TRY AND OUTRUN THIS!"

He then slammed on the gas, causing Siren Runner I to shoot forward at breakspeed speed.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS TIME!" Isamu declared, just as he realized he was nearing a dead end. Underneath the overpass their Red counterpart was currently on, Eddie pelted the underside of the road with his cannon and Sasha lifted up a weakened part of it with her baton, creating a makeshift ramp for Isamu to use. Isamu wasted no time taking advantage of this, tearing up the ramp and flying into the air after the Red Dial Zord.

As his Zord neared its target, Isamu opened up the cockpit and hopped out of his seat.

"I'M BRINGING YOU IN!" He hollered, leaping from the open-cockpit and diving towards the Red Dial Zord's right wing.

Griffin glanced at his rear-view mirror and realized what was happening; he involuntarily exclaimed, "He _can't_ be serious-!"

Acting quickly, the Red Victory Ranger veered to the right just as Isamu began to lose momentum.

"Nani…? (What…?)" Isamu said to himself, slipping into his native tongue as he suddenly began to plummet towards the ocean beneath him. "DAMN YOU VICTORIES!"

"*Phew!* That was a close one," With that, Griffin, Niko, and Esther flew away, leaving Isamu to stew in his anger as he floated above the water.

" _Dammit…!"_ The Red SPD Ranger exclaimed, slamming his fist against one of the waves as he waited for his teammates to come rescue him…

* * *

"...Dangit, we almost had it!"

After successfully making their escape, Griffin and the others retreated to the safety of Cafe Jurer. As he sat at one of the cafe's tables, the Red Ranger slammed his fist against its wooden surface in frustration.

As he leaned against the front counter, Niko rubbed his temple with his right hand. "Why does SPD have Victory Blasters?!"

"Who knows…?" Esther replied from her own table, not really knowing how to respond. Hopping up out of her table, she then interjected, "But hey, isn't it kinda cool how we can all morph into Rangers using the same technology?!"

"Have you lost your mind?!" Griffin exclaimed, standing up from his seat and whipping around to face her. "Now we have SPD _and_ the Family to contend with!"

"You're looking at this from the wrong angle, you blockhead!" Esther shot back. "Now we can just steal the Collection from the Fossillis and leave them for SPD to lock up! Our job is easier now-"

"You just don't get it!" Griffin and Niko both shouted in unison, letting their emotions get the better of them. Esther was slightly taken aback by this, prompting the boys to calm down a little once they realized they'd scared her.

"It _has_ to be us…" Niko said a few moments later, his voice barely louder than a whisper. He then stormed off, grabbing his leather jacket off of a nearby coat rack before leaving the cafe.

" _Does it, though…?"_ Esther found herself thinking aloud. Griffin took a deep breath, then stepped towards the younger girl.

"Look, all that matters right now is finding Gematto," He told her, balling his right hand into a fist and bouncing it in his left palm. "All we have to go off is Mr. Meaux's intel. Obviously he won't be hiding at the warehouse anymore, but maybe…"

His voice trailed off, prompting Esther to eye him with slight concern. Out of nowhere, the Red Ranger walked briskly to the front door, slipping into his denim jacket before exiting the cafe and making his way to his car.

"Hey wait a minute, I thought we were gonna-!" Esther shouted after him, but he didn't respond. Instead, he got into his car, started it, and drove off. "-reopen the cafe...guess we're staying closed for the day, then…"

* * *

" _...Dangit,"_ Griffin's face formed into a scowl as he pulled his car up to the warehouse only to see a massive crowd of reporters crowding an SPD crime scene. Putting his vehicle in park, he killed the engine and got out of the driver side door, then muttered, " _How am I supposed to search for clues with all these lemmings wandering around?"_

He turned to get back in his car, but before he could he heard something that piqued his interest. Turning his gaze to the nearby police barricade, he watched as a blue alien with leathery skin bowed slightly in front of Isamu.

"Thank you so much!" He exclaimed. "I don't know what I'd do if SPD wasn't around to keep us safe!"

" _It's him…"_ Griffin growled under his breath, glaring at the Red SPD Ranger as he looked back at the alien with a somber expression.

"No...our job isn't done," He said, clenching his fist. "The perp who robbed you and burnt down your store, stole your livelihood...he's still out there! We won't rest until he's been brought to justice - I _promise_!"

With that, the SPD Cadet gave the alien one last salute before turning and walking away, presumably to secure the rest of the crime scene. Griffin watched as he left, then scoffed before getting back into his car…


	5. Episode 2: Rise of the C-Squad (Part II)

**Episode 2: Rise of the C-Squad (Part II of III)**

Niko pulled his van into the parking lot of a local music store and slowly came to a halt. He pulled into an empty space before putting the vehicle into park and killing the engine. As he hopped out of his vehicle and shut the door behind him, he saw a pair of teenage boys walking out of the store and read what they were saying as it transmitted to his glasses.

"Man, that new electric guitar is bitchin'!" One of the two teens said. "If we get one of those, it'll totally improve our band's sound!"

"Dude, you know it!" The other teen agreed as they brushed past Niko. "It'll take awhile to save up that kind of cash, though,"

At the mention of the word 'band', Niko's face immediately dropped into a deep scowl…

* * *

Meanwhile, Esther had locked up the cafe and departed for a bit of a walk. She idly strolled through the downtown area, frowning as she spotted a few homeless people sleeping under a bridge…

* * *

Elsewhere in the city, Griffin pulled his car up to a seemingly random alleyway. Putting the vehicle into park and killing the engine, he hopped out and shut the door behind him as he walked over to the alley in question.

" _Promises…"_ He mumbled to himself, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he stared vacantly ahead. A light gust of wind rushed by his face, instantly taking him back to a time approximately six months prior…

* * *

" _Hey, wait up!"_

_As Griffin angrily stomped his way through an alley, a guy about a year or two his junior with sandy blonde hair and hazel eyes frantically followed after him._

" _Leave me alone, Liam!" Griffin snarled, turning around and shoving his brother roughly. The younger man stumbled backward, struggling to maintain his footing as Griffin turned back around and continued skulking away._

" _Griffin, would you just calm down and listen to me already?!" He pleaded with his older brother, who continued to stomp away._

" _Just shut up and go home," Griffin spat, disappearing around the corner while continuing to stew in his anger. A few moments later, the twenty year old felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up when he heard a new voice eerily whistle to itself from somewhere nearby. He then stopped dead in his tracks when the whistle was followed by a voice that sounded a lot like Liam's screaming in anguish._

" _Liam…!" Griffin shouted, turning around and dashing back towards the alley where he'd left his younger brother. To his horror, he turned the corner to find Liam frozen in place, encased in a giant block of ice. "What the…?!"_

_Stumbling towards the ice block, he reached out and tried to touch it, but before he could it began to splinter. A few moments later it shattered into a million pieces, prompting the young man to fall to his knees._

" _NOOOOOO!" He let out a bloodcurdling scream as he gripped his head in his hands, barely able to process the grief, regret, and confusion that immediately began filling his mind…_

* * *

**~Meanwhile - Niko's Flashback~**

_Coming to in the aftermath of an explosion, a dazed and confused Niko struggled to sit up. All around him, people were running and screaming in fear, but for some reason he couldn't seem to hear their voices. He initially assumed he was in shock, but soon realized something was terribly wrong when his wife Melody rushed over to him and began shouting something only for him to hear...nothing._

" _Baby, are you okay…?!" The redheaded woman shouted, grabbing her husband by the shoulders and gently shaking him. "Niko baby, talk to me! Are you hurt?!"_

" _Mel, I...I can't hear you," He realized, slowly reaching his hands up to his ears. He then began roughly slapping the sides of his head in an attempt to hear something,_ _ **anything**_ _, only to hear...nothing. Nothing at all. His blood ran cold, as he came to the realization, "I'm deaf…!"_

" _Niko?! Baby, stay calm!" Melody turned as an EMT dashed onto the scene and frantically shouted, "HELP! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH MY HUSBAND!"_

* * *

**~Elsewhere in the city - Esther's Flashback~**

" _Stop right there!"_

_Esther swore under her breath as she came to a halt, breathing heavily as her beat rapidly inside of her chest. Clutching a stolen purse to her chest, she slowly and reluctantly turned to face her pursuer, a police officer brandishing a stun gun._

" _You're under arrest!" The police officer shouted, slowly approaching the cornered young woman before producing a pair of handcuffs. "Put the purse down and come forward with your hands up!"_

" _I just wanted some money so I could buy food-!"_

_"Shut up, I didn't ask for your sob story!" Esther's eyes stung with tears as she dropped the purse, then reluctantly raised her hands and stepped closer to the cop. Grabbing her roughly by the arm, the cop dragged her over to him and handcuffed her, then pulled her with him as he walked towards his patrol car. "The New Tech Bag-Snatcher...we've been after you for months. You're going away for a_ _**long** _ _time, sweetheart!"_

* * *

**~Griffin's Flashback cont.~**

" _...forget this, I'm out of here!" Griffin shouted as he stormed out of the local Apostolic church, where his family was holding a funeral for Liam. Wiping a stream of hot, angry tears from his eyes, he stomped out the front doors and made his way to the parking lot, where he intended to get in his car and drive off. However, before he could, he was stopped by a man in a fancy black suit and black shades…_

" _Mr. Steinmann, I presume…?" The man said, his voice carrying a hint of a French accent._

" _Maybe...what's it to you?" Griffin sneered, glaring at the man._

" _It seems the Fossilli Family got to your brother...a real shame. He died_ _ **far**_ _too young," He reached into his suit jacket and produced a business card, which he then handed to Griffin before saying, "My name is Mr. Meaux, I work for a very wealthy man - a descendant of Arsene Lupin."_

" _Arsene Lupin…? You mean the phantom thief from all those old wives' tales?" Griffin questioned, to which Mr. Meaux nodded. "I don't buy it. And even if you're telling the truth, why the heck are you talking to me right now?"_

" _My employer wants me to offer you a...job, of sorts," Mr. Meaux explained. "The Fossilli Family took something from him, and he wants you to recover his stolen property. If you do, he'll reward you handsomely."_

" _Forget it, I'm not interested," Griffin shrugged him off, brushing past the older man as he continued to walk to his car. "Tell your boss to do it himself!"_

" _I'm afraid he's...unable to take matters into his own hands. That's why he wishes to hire you," Griffin continued to ignore him, so he added, "I know it may sound of little interest to you now, Mr. Steinman, but you haven't even heard the best part yet...my employer can bring back your brother."_

" _Liam-?!" Griffin stopped dead in his tracks, whipping around to face Mr. Meaux. "But how?!"_

" _He has his ways...I'll be more than happy to explain in further detail,_ _ **if**_ _you accept," Mr. Meaux then reached into his suit jacket and produced a strange white blaster pistol of some kind, which had a red fighter jet-esque trinket slotted onto it. "Will you become the Red Victory Ranger, and retrieve the lost pieces of the Lupin Collection in order to resurrect your brother?"_

_Griffin took the weapon as Mr. Meaux handed it to him, holding it in his hands and feeling both the literal and the figurative weight of it. If he walked away, he could go on living his life as he was now, a broken shell of a person haunted by grief and regret. But if he accepted, he had a chance at bringing back the person he'd let down the most - someone who shouldn't have died…_

* * *

**~Niko's Flashback cont.~**

_Niko silently stormed out of the doctor's office, a deep scowl forming on his face as the weight of the prognosis he'd been given bore down on him. After six months of endless doctors' visits, they'd come to a less than favorable conclusion. He was deaf, and there was nothing they could do to fix it. The explosion had caused extensive damage to the bones in his ears - irreversible damage. The doctor had been very clear - if they attempted to fix what had been done, the best case scenario is that they'd make it worse; the worst case scenario is that the procedure could kill him. Hearing aids weren't really an option either - not that they could afford it, he and his wife were barely making ends meet as it was._

_As he began to process the fact that he'd likely never hear again, he stopped paying attention to his surroundings. Out of nowhere, he felt himself bump into someone; looking up, he saw a man in a fancy black suit and black sunglasses._

" _Shit, sorry!" Niko apologized, speaking rather loudly._

" _It's quite alright, Mr. Kievsky," The man replied. Niko stared at him in confusion, obviously unable to hear a word he said. Realizing he was deaf, he signed to the man using ASL: "So my employer was correct...you really have lost your hearing."_

" _Who are you…?" Niko signed back shakily, still not used to using Sign Language to communicate with others. "What do you want from me…?"_

" _Not much, Mr. Keivsky. Just a moment of your time," The man produced a business card, which he then handed to the man. "My name is Mr. Meaux, and I work for a very wealthy man descended from the great phantom thief Arsene Lupin. My employer has had something stolen from him...something precious. I assume you know how that feels…?"  
"Of course, I lost my fucking hearing," Niko spat verbally, scoffing a little. Mr. Meaux chuckled a bit at his use of foul language, then reached into his suit jacket again and produced a pair of blue-lensed sunglasses._

" _Allow me to try something…" He signed to Niko in ASL. He then gently placed the sunglasses on Niko's face and pressed a button on the side, causing a screen on the inside of the lenses to turn on and begin flashing off and on with light. Niko blinked in confusion, then furrowed his eyebrows as text began to run down the screen saying 'Initializing: Speech to Text…'._

" _Can you understand me now…?" Mr. Meaux said aloud, prompting Niko to shakily nod as the words ran down the screen inside the lenses. "Good. My employer developed these specifically for you and you may keep them, free of charge...provided you accept his offer."_

" _What offer…?" Niko questioned, prompting Mr. Meaux to reach inside his suit jacket one last time and produce a strange white blaster pistol with a blue propeller plane-esque trinket slotted onto the side of it._

" _Become the Blue Victory Ranger, fight the Fossilli Family, and take back what rightfully belongs to my employer. If you do, you may keep the glasses...among other perks. Once everything that was stolen from my employer is recovered, he will grant you anything you desire, including-"  
"My hearing," Niko said, cutting him off. He grabbed the blaster, then said, "I want my goddamn hearing back!"_

" _Very well," Mr. Meaux replied, his mouth curling up into a smile. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Keivsky…"_

* * *

**~Esther's Flashback cont.~**

" _...Ansari, wake up!"_

" _What…?" Esther sleepily replied as she stirred from her slumber. Sitting up in what the prison she was in called a 'bed', she looked up and saw a guard standing in her cell. "What's going on…?"_

" _Pack your shit," The guard told her. "You're being released!"_

" _What…?" Esther furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but did what she was told anyway, hopping up out of bed and immediately beginning to gather her belongings. Within the next hour, she was escorted out of the cell block and into the processing building, where she was placed into a holding cell and instructed to wait until her 'lawyer' arrived. Esther didn't recall_ _ **having**_ _a lawyer, but she didn't particularly care. She was getting out, and that was all that mattered._

_After what seemed like an eternity, the sliding door to her holding cell opened, allowing a man in a fancy black suit and black sunglasses to step inside. As the door slid closed behind him, he looked down at Esther and said, "Ms. Ansari, I presume?"_

" _Yes…" She said uneasily, not sure what to make of the newcomer. "And you are…?"_

" _My name is Mr. Meaux, I work for a very wealthy man - a descendant of Arsene Lupin," Esther swore she recognized the name Arsene Lupin from what little schooling she'd received, but she couldn't quite remember who he was. "My employer arranged for your early release, and he's prepared to offer you a...job, of sorts."_

" _A job…?" Esther asked, slightly confused. After all, who'd wanna hire her? "What kind of job?"_

" _My employer had something stolen from him recently...a collection of items that have been in his family for generations," Mr. Meaux explained. "This Lupin Collection was stolen by the Fossilli Family - an intergalactic mafia made up of some of the galaxy's most dangerous criminals. My employer wants the Collection returned to him...and that's where you come in."_

_With that, Mr. Meaux reached into his suit jacket and produced a strange white blaster pistol of some kind, which had a yellow helicopter-esque trinket slotted onto the side of it. He held it out for Esther to see, then continued with, "Become the Yellow Victory Ranger, and recover the Collection pieces from the uncouth thugs that stole them. If you do, my employer will grant you whatever you desire."_

" _Whatever I desire…? Can it be..._ _ **anything**_ _?" Mr. Meaux nodded, prompting Esther to stroke her chin. What_ _ **did**_ _she want…?_

_She wanted to be able to eat a hot meal and have a place to sleep at night without having to resort to theft or trespassing. She wanted to enjoy the luxuries that everyone around her took for granted - the ones she had_ _**never** _ _had. She wanted to feel safe and secure and not have to constantly worry about where her next meal would come from, or who might try and hurt her if she wasn't too careful. Most of all, she wanted...power. She wanted_ _**money.** _

" _...I wanna be rich," She finally said several minutes later, having made her decision. "The richest person in New Tech City!"_

" _I'm afraid my employer will want to retain his status at the top of the city's elite...however, if it is wealth that you desire, he can and_ _ **will**_ _meet your request,"_

" _Then count me in," Esther replied, standing to her feet and giving Mr. Meaux a firm handshake…_

* * *

**~Griffin, Niko, and Esthers' Flashbacks cont.~**

_As night began to fall over New Tech City, Griffin Steinmann, Nikolai Keivsky, and Esther Ansari all gathered inside a worn down, abandoned coffee shop - the place that would_ _**soon** _ _become Cafe Jurer. As they gathered around a small wooden table, Esther scooped up her Victory Blaster, which she stared at in awe._

" _...we're all after the same thing," She began, as Niko reached down and procured his own Victory Blaster._

" _It doesn't matter if one of us falls...if even_ _ **one**_ _of us remains, they can bring the other two back to life and make all of our wishes come true," Niko reasoned._

" _We'll recover the Lupin Collection...and right the wrongs dealt to us by life!" Griffin declared, picking his own Victory Blaster up from the table. As the three crossed their new weapons like swords, he added, "Tonight, we swear an oath…!"_

* * *

**~Back in the present…~**

" _I promised...I'll bring you back, Liam,"_ Griffin swallowed back tears, fighting the urge to cry. " _I'll right the wrong life dealt us when it took you...instead of me!"_

Suddenly, a loud explosion occurred, shaking the ground underneath his feet. Snapping out his trance, he dashed to his car and got back inside, starting the engine and driving back to Cafe Jurer in order to equip himself for the coming rematch…

* * *

"I'll just steal everything in this stupid town, then!" Gematto roared as he caused an explosion in an outdoor mall downtown, causing people shopping there to panic and run away screaming in all directions…

* * *

"RED ALERT! RED ALERT!" John Doe exclaimed, the sirens on the sides of his head sounding off as he suddenly bolted from his chair. As Captain Farukon and the C-Squad Rangers all gathered around him, he projected a live security feed of the outdoor mall from his stomach, then said, "That's Gematto! He's on a rampage!"

"C-Squad, move out!" Captain Farukon ordered, prompting Isamu and the others to dash out of the room without a moment's hesitation.


	6. Episode 2: Rise of the C-Squad (Part III)

**Episode 2: Rise of the C-Squad (Part III of III)**

"Hahahaha! This is really fun!"

Gematto let out a sinister laugh as he shot fire in all directions, causing the people at the outdoor mall he was attacking to run away whilst screaming in terror. Reveling in the chaos and destruction he was causing, he was almost shocked when a trio of laser bolts pinged off of his body... _almost._

"I was wondering when you'd show up!" He hollered, looking up at a nearby rooftop. Standing above him were Griffin and the others, dressed up in their phantom thief get-ups and brandishing their Victory Blasters.

"Get ready for round two, Gematto!" Griffin replied.

"Let's try and finish this _before_ SPD shows up this time, yeah?" Niko suggested, lightly elbowing the younger man.

"You three really don't know when to give up, do ya?!" Gematto shouted up at them.

"I already told you once, didn't I…? Your treasure is **MINE!"** Griffin declared. With that, he and the other two brandished their Dial Zords and he added, "It's Morphin' Time!"

"Victorise!" The three shouted in unison, slotting their Dial Zords onto their Victory Blasters and entering their respective combinations before pulling the levers on the back of the morphers. Rotating the barrels so that the Zords were on top, they pulled the trigger with a loud, "FIRE!"

**~Victory Rangers Morphing Sequence~**

"The Daring Thief," Griffin said, beginning their rollcall. "Red Victory Ranger!"

"The Dexterous Thief," Niko said coolly. "Blue Victory Ranger!"

"The Agile Thief," Esther boomed. "Yellow Victory Ranger!"

"Snatching up a win at blinding speed!" All three of them shouted in unison, grabbing their capes by the hem before thrusting them in the wind behind them. "Victory Rangers!"

With their rollcall complete, the Victory Rangers leapt off of the rooftop, descending to the ground below while pelting Gematto with laser blasts. Staggering backwards as the projectiles sparked off of his armor, Gematto retaliated with a wave of flames. The Victory Rangers landed on the blacktop with a thud and immediately ducked and rolled to avoid the flames, then hopped up to their feet and shot at their foe again. Gematto responded with yet another wave of fire, which they effortlessly dodged before rushing their target once more.

"You're _mine_!" Griffin growled, lunging towards the cat-alien and pistol-whipping him on the back of the head.

"That's what _you_ think!" Gematto growled in response, sprouting his second pair of arms before shooting yet another wave of fire out of them. "Take this!"

"Not so fast!" Niko and Esther hollered in unison, leaping into the air before brandishing their Victory Sabers. They then used a claw-like apparatus on the bottom of the handle to grab Gematto by the wrists. Once they landed on the ground, they used the leverage they now had to hold him in place, allowing Griffin to walk up to him and place his Red Dial Zord on his safe.

"2-1-5!" The usual electronic voice echoed out of the Zord as the safe swung open, revealing the Lion's Lighter.

"I'll take _that_!" Griffin said, reaching inside and procuring the Collection piece. Shutting the safe, he waved the artifact in Gematto's face before taunting him by saying, "Not so hot now, are ya?"  
"EVERYBODY FREEZE!" A familiar voice shouted, as Isamu, Eddie, and Sasha burst onto the scene with their Delta Defenders drawn. They then immediately shot at the other four, prompting the Victory Rangers to dive out of the way and leave Gematto to take all of the hits.

"It's SPD!" Esther yelled as Gematto staggered backward, groaning in pain.

" _There they are…"_ Niko growled. He and Griffin both clenched their fists as they glared over at their new rivals.

"SPD: Emergency!" The three C-Squad cadets hollered in unison, slotting their Siren Runners onto their Delta Defenders before pulling the levers and rotating the barrels. Aiming their blasters into the air, they pulled the trigger with a hearty: "FIRE!"

**~C-Squad Morphing Sequence~**

"One," Isamu raised his left index finger for everyone to see as he began their rollcall. "SPD Red Ranger!"

"Two," Eddie continued, raising his left index and middle fingers and forming a V-shape. "SPD Green Ranger!"

"Three," Sasha said calmly, raising her left thumb, index finger, and middle finger. "SPD Pink Ranger!"

"Space Patrol Delta," They all three shouted in unison, performing a group pose while gripping their Delta Defenders tightly. "Defenders of Earth!"

"By the authority of SPD...we're bringing you **IN!"** Isamu declared.

With their rollcall complete, the C-Squad Rangers leapt into the fray, beginning a three-way battle between them, the Victory Rangers, and Gematto, who had just summoned up a fresh batch of Cranforos to fight alongside him. Charging towards the enemy, Isamu fired his blaster wildly. One of the Cranforos attempted to slash him with its sword, but he effortlessly dodged the incoming attack before using the opportunity to grab his would-be attacker by the arm. He then held the Cranforo hostage, using it as a shield while he gunned down its allies.

Once the captive Cranforo had outlived its usefulness, Isamu tossed it carelessly aside before turning around and charging towards the real threat - Gematto. Punching and kicking the cat-alien, he aimed his Delta Defender at his chest and prepared to finish him off, only for Niko to come out of nowhere and kick his hand away.

"This is our fight!" Niko told him, spinning around to avoid a right-hook from Isamu before shooting the Red SPD Ranger in the chestplate. "Stay out of it!"

Before their clash could continue, Gematto lunged towards them, forcing the two to dive out of the way in either direction. Cranforos swarmed them, effectively surrounding them on all sides.

"This time we'll do it…!" Isamu said defiantly, shooting Niko in the shoulder before turning his attention back to Gematto. "We won't break our promise!"

Hearing this as he grabbed a Cranforo by the arm and held it at gunpoint, Griffin felt his mind cast itself back to earlier that day…

* * *

_"No...our job isn't done," Isamu said to the blue-skinned alien, clenching his fist. "The perp who robbed you and burnt down your store, stole your livelihood...he's still out there! We won't rest until he's been brought to justice - I promise!"_

* * *

" _Oh well…"_ Griffin said to himself, shrugging his shoulders. " _Guess it can't be helped,"_

With that, he shot the Cranforo he was fighting in the face and tossed it aside. He then dashed towards Niko, tackling him away from Isamu and Gematto before wrapping his arm around him and reaching for his belt buckle.

"Time to leave," He told his blue counterpart, detaching his belt buckle and aiming it at a nearby building before deploying a grappling hook of some sort.

"What the-?!" Niko exclaimed in confusion as he and Griffin shot up into the sky, landing on a nearby rooftop. "What the heck are you doing…?!"

"Hey, wait up…!" Esther shouted awkwardly, glancing up at them. She then used her own grappling hook to follow her teammates. "Grif, what's going on? I thought we had to take out Gematto?"  
"I wanted us to be the ones to take him down, but...I think securing the Collection piece is more important, this time," Griffin lied, gesturing to the Lion's Lighter. "After all, what're the odds we'll get a third shot at it?"

"...I guess you have a point," Niko said reluctantly, going along with it despite his reservations. "Let's go home."

Watching them from the ground below, Isamu shouted up at them and said, "Trying to flee the scene, are you?!"

Niko turned to face their rival and took a step forward, presumably intending to fight him. However, Griffin squashed the fight before it could start, placing his hand on his blue counterpart's shoulder before replying with, "We already got what we came for! You'll take care of the rest, yeah?"

With that, the Red Victory Ranger turned and ran to the other end of the rooftop, using his grappling hook to leap into the air. Esther did the same, as did a reluctant Niko, who took one last look at the battlefield before departing.

"Wait, stop-!" Isamu hollered after the rival Rangers, to no avail. Eddie and Sasha then ran up to him, rejoining their leader.

"Should we pursue them?" Eddie questioned.

"...No," Isamu eventually replied, waving him off. He turned around and gestured at Gematto, then said, "For now, _he's_ the priority. Let's bring 'im in!"

Hearing this, the remaining Cranforos brandished their swords and charged towards them. This prompted the C-Squad Rangers to brandish a new weapon of their own - a white, black, and gold device that resembled a megaphone.

"DeltaMax Echo!" They shouted in unison, naming the new weapon. They then shouted into them as loud as they could, creating a massive soundwave that sent the incoming Cranforos stumbling backwards. With their opponents' attack effectively postponed, they flicked their new weapons downward, deploying a black baton-like rod out of the top. "DeltaMax Basher!"

With their new melee weapons in hand, the C-Squad Rangers ran forward, bashing the Cranforos over the head and taking them out one by one. Within a matter of seconds, the alien goons had been eliminated, leaving only Gematto to deal with.

"YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" An outraged Gematto roared, running towards the Rangers with all four arms raised.

"I don't think so!" Isamu shouted confidently, effortlessly ducking out of the way of the alien's incoming attack. He then twisted back around to face his foe as Eddie and Sasha restrained him, whipping out his SPD badge before flipping it open to reveal a small screen. "Gematto, you are hereby charged with the theft of a Lupin Collection piece, as well as several counts of armed robbery, destruction of property, and civilian endangerment! **JUDGEMENT MODE!"**

He then pressed a button on the top of his badge, causing the screen to light up and begin flashing on and off. The screen flicked between two images - one of them was a green circle and the other was a red X-shape. Eventually, the screen stopped flashing and the image stopped on the red-X, which glowed bright red as the badge emitted an electronic beep.

"Guilty as charged!" Isamu hollered, putting his badge away as Gematto ripped himself from Eddie and Sasha's grip and began charging a large fireball. Motioning over to Eddie as he and Sasha moved to rejoin him, he said, "Suarez, it's time!"

"Right!" Eddie replied, pulling out a metal briefcase before opening it up and revealing a large, sleek black, white, and orange car-like trinket. He then handed it to Isamu, who removed Siren Runner I from the bottom of his Delta Defender before replacing it with the new item.

Seeing this from a nearby rooftop, Griffin said, "Is that...another Collection piece?!"

"DeuxStriker!" A new voice said in a high-pitched tone, emanating from the new trinket as Isamu aimed his blaster at Gematto. "Preparing attack!"  
Suddenly, Eddie and Sasha began to shimmer a bit, slowly fading away as if they were phasing out of existence. Out of nowhere, they turned into energy and flew towards Isamu, fusing with the Red Ranger in order to form one multicolored Ranger…

"Red, Green, Pink!" The electronic voice within Isamu's Delta Defender exclaimed. "SPD FUSION RANGER!"

"WHAT THE HELL-?!" Griffin, Niko, and Esther exclaimed in unified shock, watching all of this play out from the rooftops.

" **SENTENCING STRIKE: READY…!"** What sounded like a combination of Isamu, Eddie, and Sasha's voices announced, as the SPD Fusion Ranger aimed its Delta Defender at Gematto and charged up a large orb of energy. **"AIM...FIRE!"**

As Gematto launched a massive fireball, SPD Fusion pulled the trigger, sending the orb of energy hurtling towards the Fossilli Family member. Eclipsing the fireball, the energy orb absorbed its power and then hurtled towards Gematto, cutting through him like a hot knife through butter.

"WAHHHHHHH!" The cat-alien screamed at the top of his lungs, his body sparking with electricity as it was launched backward by a large explosion.

"SPD FUSION: MISSION COMPLETE!" Isamu's Delta Defender announced. A few moments later, SPD Fusion split itself into three separate bodies - the morphed forms of Isamu, Eddie, and Sasha, who were now back to normal!  
"What the-?!" Eddie exclaimed in confusion. "Did that really just happen…?"

"What kind of technology is this…?" Sasha questioned, as Isamu drew a Containment Card.

"We'll have time to worry about that later!" He told her. He then began to step towards the severely weakened Gematto before adding, "Time to bring this guy in!"

* * *

Having watched all of this play out via a video-screen in his lair's dining room, Don Tyrannus snapped his fingers.

"Gatlor!" He shouted, summoning his loyal wife and motioning for her to approach him. "Why don't you pay the human world a visit and give our friend here a second chance, hmm?"

"It would be my pleasure, darling," Gatlor said with a bow. Blowing her husband a kiss, she teleported away, warping reality in her wake…

* * *

Isamu tightened his grip on the Containment Card as he stepped closer to Gematto, only to be stopped dead in his tracks when a strange portal opened up in front of him. Warping reality as she tore out of the gateway, Gatlor waved a strange looking golden gun in her hand before opening the safe on her body and swapping it out with another Collection piece.

"Now, my beloved treasure...time to make our friend Gematto feel better!" With that, she thrust her hand towards the defeated Fossilli Family member, shooting him with green orb of energy that immediately revitalized him and caused him to grow to massive heights.

"HAHAHAHA!" The now-giant Gematto cackled evilly. "TRY AND ARREST ME NOW, COPPERS!"

"My work here is done," Gatlor said, opening up another portal and warping reality behind her again as she teleported away.

"Guess we're not finished yet after all," Griffin said to Niko and Esther, and together they all three summoned their Dial Zords before leaping off the rooftop to board them.

"Dial Zords, take flight! R-R-R-Red! B-B-B-Blue! Y-Y-Y-Yellow!"

Flying towards Gematto, the three Victory Rangers unleashed a barrage of bullets on their revitalized foe. However, this assault didn't seem to faze him, and he quickly retaliated by shooting a volley of bone-like missiles out of his stomach.

"TAKE THIS!"

"Oh no…!" Isamu shouted in horror, watching from the ground below as the Victory Rangers narrowly avoided the incoming missiles. He felt his Delta Defender begin to shake, so he looked down just in time to see DeuxStriker moving of its own accord. "What the…?"

"No more standing by! Time to transform!" The same high-pitched voice from earlier exclaimed, as DeuxStriker flew off of Isamu's Delta Defender and unfolded itself, converting into some sort of winged car. "Up, up, and away!"

As Griffin, Niko, and Esther regrouped and flew towards Gematto intending to launch another volley of gunfire, DeuxStriker flew towards the Red Victory Ranger's Zord and shouted, "Hey…!"

"What the…?" Griffin peered out of the left side of his cockpit and saw the tiny, sentient flying car, which appeared to be struggling to keep up with him. "Aren't you with SPD?"

"Right now I'm a free agent! I'm in a generous mood, so I've decided to help you out!" DeuxStriker replied. "What do you say?"

"...Sure, why not?" Griffin pulled his Victory Blaster out of its slot on the cockpit's dashboard, then opened up the cockpit and allowed DeuxStriker to attach himself to the top of his morpher. "Let's give it a go!"

With that, he aimed his blaster forward and pulled the trigger, causing DeuxStriker to fly off the top and grow ten times his size.

" **Time to steal a victory!"** The sentient Zord hollered, transforming and forming a robotic torso and pair of legs. Moving of their own accord, the Dial Zords flew towards the partially-assembled robot body. The Blue Dial Zord transformed into an arm and attached itself to the left shoulder, the Yellow Dial Zord also became an arm and attached itself to the right shoulder, and the Red Dial Zord folded down the middle, revealing a top hat and chest-piece which attached itself to the top and front of the robot body.

"Pull…?" Griffin said to himself as a green 'Pull' prompt appeared on his console. He then pulled a lever on his dashboard, causing his seat to convert itself from a motorcycle-esque configuration to something more akin to a car's driver seat. "Woah..!"

Niko and Esther did the same, and all three of their cockpit seats suddenly shifted around and lifted out of their cockpits. Within moments, they all found themselves in a centralized cockpit, as the dial on Griffin's Zord twisted until a red robotic face revealed itself underneath the top hat.

" **SHADOW STRIKE MEGAZORD: READY~!"** The electronic voice from their morphers announced, as the newly formed Megazord landed on the ground and skidded to a halt several yards away from Gematto.

"What's going on…?!" Isamu, Eddie, and Sasha exclaimed in unison, watching all of this unfold from the ground below.

"Well ain't that nifty…?" Griffin said as he and the other two scanned the interior of their new cockpit. "I didn't even know this was a thing!"

"YOOOO…!" A familiar high-pitched voice shouted, as a strange orange bat-like creature wearing a black top-hat popped up out of Griffin's dashboard.

"What the-?! What is that thing-?!" Esther exclaimed in shock, pointing at the new arrival accusingly.

"The name's DeuxStriker! I'm part of the Lupin Collection, and my job is to strengthen the other Collection pieces!" The creature explained.

"Alright then…" Griffin placed his hand gently atop DeuxStriker's top hat, turning the creature around so that he faced the cockpit's rather large video-screen. "Show us what you can do!"

"EAT THIS!" Gematto roared, firing another flight of missiles from his stomach. Suddenly, the Shadow Strike Megazord flew forward, using a set of thrusters on its back to propel itself towards its opponent. The Victory Rangers tugged at their controls, willing their new Megazord to tilt its body to the side to avoid the incoming projectiles. They then launched a counterattack, slashing at Gematto's arm with the Yellow Dial Zord's buzzsaw whilst shooting him in the stomach with the Blue Dial Zord's gatling gun.

"Why, you…!" The cat-alien growled, slashing back with his claws before launching yet another flight of missiles. "HAVE SOME MORE!"

Thinking quickly, Griffin and the others willed the Megazord to take cover behind a nearby building. As the missiles collided with the ground below and detonated, the Shadow Strike Megazord dashed out of cover, dashing forward for several yards before vaulting into the air.

"It's time to finish this!" DeuxStriker shouted, turning to face the Rangers again before adding, "Are you guys ready…?!"

"Ready as we'll ever be," Niko replied. As an clock on the cockpit screen counted down from three, the Victory Rangers removed their Blasters from their consoles and stood up, aiming them at Gematto.

" **PHANTOM BULLET BARRAGE: READY! AIM…!"** The Shadow Strike Megazord thrust both its arms forward as a gigantic ethereal version of the Victory Blaster appeared in its hands. Aiming the weapon at its target, it began to fire a rapid steam of bullets as the Rangers and DeuxStriker shouted in unison: **"FIRE!"**

"NOOOOOO!" Gematto screamed as his body was torn to shreds by machine gun fire. Within moments, he was erupted in a massive explosion. After being defeated for the second time, the alien mobster screamed at the top of his lungs as he reverted back to his normal size and descended to the ground below.

Seeing this, Isamu acted quickly, taking several steps backward before running forward and vaulting into the air. As Gematto plummeted to the ground, Isamu caught him in mid-air, then landed safely on the ground with the alien criminal securely in his arms.

"You're going away for a _long_ time!" The Red SPD Ranger declared. Pulling out the Containment Card, he used it shrink Gematto to tiny size before trapping him in the pocket-dimension contained within the card.

"Nooooooo! You can't do this to me!" The captured alien shouted, his voice now much higher in pitch and barely audible. "You haven't seen the last of me! Damn you Power Rangers!"

"Power down!" Isamu said, as he, Eddie, and Sasha all three demorphed. Once the three regrouped, he pocketed the Containment Card and added, "C-Squad, our work here is done!"  
Hearing a loud rumbling sound, the three looked up just in time to see the Shadow Strike Megazord leap into the air and fly away.

"Hey, they're getting away with DeuxStriker…!" Eddie shouted in alarm. He turned to Isamu, then said, "Shouldn't we go after them?!"

Isamu took a deep breath, then replied with, "...Gematto's behind bars where he belongs. For now, that's good enough for me."

Eddie didn't seem convinced, so Isamu placed his hand on the rookie's shoulder and said, "C'mon, let's head back to base,"  
With that, he turned and headed for the patrol car. Eddie and Sasha wordlessly followed after their leader, and together the three C-Squad cadets exited the scene…

* * *

The next morning, Griffin, Niko, and Esther all three gathered inside Cafe Jurer. Setting DeuxStriker and the Lion's Lighter gently onto one of the cafe's table, Griffin said, "Alright! I can't believe we managed to nab another one without any extra work!"

DeuxStriker immediately drove off the table and began flying around the room, laughing as Esther watched him in slight amusement.

"Y'know, DeuxStriker is kind of a mouthful…" The Yellow Ranger said, stroking her chin. "Why don't we call him...Deuxie?"  
"That's fine with me!" DeuxStriker replied, approving of the new nickname.

As the four of them continued their celebration of the previous night's victory, a familiar patrol car pulled into the parking lot outside. Unaware of this, Niko approached Griffin and said, "What'll we do about the Collection pieces SPD has? We've gotta take them at some point,"

"Yeah I know, but...I don't really wanna worry about those guys until it's absolutely necessary," Griffin leaned back in his chair and let out a small yawn, just as the door to the cafe swung open and the bell attached to it rung. "Oh hey, we're not open just yet, but we'll be with you in a…"

Griffin trailed off mid-sentence when he looked up and his worst nightmare was realized - stepping into the cafe were Isamu, Eddie, and Sasha, who all looked tired after presumably finishing another all-night patrol. The Red Victory Ranger hopped up out of his seat as his blue counterpart subtly pocketed the Lion's Lighter; acting just as quickly, Esther scrambled to snatch up DeuxStriker and clutched him against her chest as she dashed behind the front counter and hid.

 _Why are they here?! Do they know?!_ Griffin's mind raced and his heart beat rapidly inside of his chest. He and Niko began to stare down their rivals, both wondering if the jig was up as the room was filled with a sudden silence…

_**To Be Continued in Episode 3: "Ranger Blues"!** _


	7. Episode 3: Ranger Blues (Part I)

Griffin, Niko, Esther…three youths who seek to recover the mysterious treasures collectively known as the Lupin Collection. In their quest to procure the Collection pieces, they have donned the mantle of Victory Rangers and battled against the infamous Fossilli Family of intergalactic criminals!

However, now a third faction has entered the mix! SPD, a space-wide police force dedicated to protecting innocents across the universe, has entrusted three of its C-Squad Cadets with Ranger Powers! Their mission? To take down the Fossilli Family and bring the Victory Rangers to justice!

Who will win…? And more importantly…

**WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?!**

* * *

_As Griffin and the others continued to celebrate the previous night's victory, a familiar patrol car pulled into the parking lot outside. Unaware of this, Niko approached his red counterpart and said, "What'll we do about the Collection pieces SPD has? We've gotta take them at some point,"_

_"Yeah I know, but...I don't really wanna worry about those guys until it's absolutely necessary," Griffin leaned back in his chair and let out a small yawn, just as the door to the cafe swung open and the bell attached to it rung. "Oh hey, we're not open just yet, but we'll be with you in a…"_

_Griffin trailed off mid-sentence when he looked up and his worst nightmare was realized - stepping into the cafe were Isamu, Eddie, and Sasha, who all looked tired after presumably finishing another all-night patrol. The Red Victory Ranger hopped up out of his seat as his blue counterpart subtly pocketed the Lion's Lighter; acting just as quickly, Esther scrambled to snatch up DeuxStriker and clutched him against her chest as she dashed behind the front counter and hid._

_Why are they here?! Do they know?! Griffin's mind raced and his heart beat rapidly inside of his chest. He and Niko began to stare down their rivals, both wondering if the jig was up as the room was filled with a sudden silence…_

* * *

" _Oh shit!"_ Esther swore to herself as she ducked behind the front counter, clutching DeuxStriker to her chest. She scrambled to try and find a place to hide the sentient Collection piece, eventually setting on the inside of an old coffee pot. " _Deuxie, get in there!"_

" _Wait, let me out…!"_ DeuxStriker protested, his voice muffled as Esther shut the lid of the pot with him inside.

Meanwhile, Griffin and Niko continued their stare down with Isamu from in front of the counter. A tense silence filled the room - one so thick that you could've heard a pin drop. After what seemed like an eternity, Isamu moved. Griffin panicked as his rival appeared to be reaching for his blaster; the Red Victory Ranger had to bite back a sigh of relief when his SPD counterpart simply raised his right hand and held up three fingers.

"We'll have three large coffees with extra cream and sugar, please," The Japanese-American cadet said politely.

As Griffin and Niko stood there dumbstruck, Sasha spoke up, saying, "You guys _are_ open right now, right?"

"...Yeah, yeah, of course!" Griffin finally said, his heart rate slowly crawling back down as he realized they didn't know their secret. As he and Niko made their way behind the front counter, he added, "Sorry about that, we're kinda tired…"

"We're in the same boat, patrol was a bitch last night…" Eddie chimed in, stepping up to the register as Niko began to ring them up. He reached for his wallet, then turned to the other two and said, "I'll pay,"  
"Thank you, Suarez," Isamu dipped his head in appreciation. As Niko entered the order into his computer terminal, Griffin scrambled to make it whilst trying not to step on Esther.

" _Sorry…!"_ He whispered to the girl apologetically, wincing a bit when he accidentally spilled creamer on her.

"That'll be $5.25, sir," Niko told Eddie, who handed him a tattered stack of one-dollar bills and a handful of quarters. Niko counted up the money, then scrunched up his nose and said, "Um sir, you're two dollars over…"

"Oh, whoops!" Eddie rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment, but ultimately waved him off before saying, "Tell ya what, keep the change! Consider it thanks for a well-served cup of joe!"

"Anything for one of the city's finest," Niko said facetiously, giving him a disingenuous smile as he placed the money into the cash register and handed the rookie cadet his receipt. As Eddie made his way back to the table the other two were sitting at, Griffin came out from behind the counter carrying their drinks.

"Here you go," He placed their coffee on the table in front of them, then added, "Enjoy!"

"Thank you!" With that, the three cadets took a sip of their coffees. The trio let out a muffled _"Mmmmm!"_ as they tasted the delicious beverages.

Eddie set his cup down after taking quite a large swig, then said, "Man, that really hit the spot!"  
"Agreed!" Sasha echoed, holding her own cup carefully in her hands. "I've heard so many good things about this place, but we're only _just_ now getting a chance to check it out."

"Well, we're glad you enjoy our coffee, ma'am," As Griffin continued to hover over the table, Isamu looked up at him and furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

"Wait a second...you look familiar," Griffin froze in place, his blood running cold as Isamu looked him over. "Hold on...you're the guy who laughed at me in that parking lot! You drive a really old red sedan?"

"...Guilty as charged!" Griffin fought the urge to sigh in relief yet again; two close calls in a row was almost too much to handle! "I know it was kinda rude, but I couldn't help but be entertained when you missed that throw,"

"I can't say I'd blame you. Isamu's never been very good at throwing things," Sasha said with a bit of a chuckle, much to her fellow cadet's chagrin. Turning to the embarrassed Red Ranger, she added, "I still remember that one time you missed that free throw in the final moments of the Academy Basketball Tournament!"

"You're never gonna let me live that one down, are you?" Isamu said rhetorically.

"Nope, never," Sasha giggled as her friend's face reddened slightly, then looked up to Griffin and explained, "Isamu and I trained together at the Academy."

"Sounds like you two go way back," Griffin observed, pretending to be interested in what she had to say. "You're pretty good friends then, I take it?"

"Something like that…" Isamu trailed off, seeming distracted. "Say, your girlfriend that was in the car with you, does she work here?"

"Girlfriend?!" Esther shouted, her face turning bright red. Once she realized she'd blown her cover, she awkwardly rose from behind the counter and rubbed the back of her head, saying, "Err, I mean..don't mind me, just dusting the cabinets down here…"

"Yeah, uh, Est and I are just friends," Griffin blushed a bit, not really knowing what to say. "Her, Niko and I run this place together. It's hectic, but we love it."

As Griffin continued to make idle small talk with the trio of cadets, Esther knelt back down behind the counter and stealthily crept back over to the coffee pot. She opened it up intending to retrieve DeuxStriker, only to realize he was gone. " _What the-?!"_

Meanwhile, Niko grew bored of the idle chatter and his eyes began to wander. He stepped out from behind the counter, then subtly eyed the Delta Defender holstered on Eddie's hip. Realizing now was the perfect opportunity, he slowly reached for the Collection piece-

Griffin grabbed his wrist before he could snatch up the device, subtly shaking his head before letting go and turning back to the others. Niko's face formed into a bit of a scowl, but he quickly shook it off and put on another fake smile for the sake of their patrons.

Out of nowhere, Isamu shot up from the table.

"Yes sir!" He shouted into an earpiece he was wearing. Motioning over to the others, he said, "C'mon, we've gotta move out!"

"Right!" Eddie and Sasha replied, rushing out of their seats and following him out the door without hesitation. Within moments, the three Victory Rangers were alone once more.

"Dangit Grif, you got creamer all over my sweater!" Esther whined, rushing out from behind the counter and slapping him upside the head.

"I didn't mean to, just..relax, okay? I'll take you shopping and buy you a new one, alright?" Esther's face reddened slightly at the offer, but Griffin didn't seem to notice as he turned his attention towards Niko. "As for you-"  
"-SPD sure seems to have their hands full, huh?" A new but familiar voice said, startling the three. Turning to face a nearby table, they saw Mr. Meaux, who was sitting in a chair with his old tome carefully set on the wooden surface in front of him.

Esther tilted her head in slight confusion, then said, "Mr. Meaux…? When did you get here?"

"Bonjour," He replied, dodging the question before changing the subject. "I've come to retrieve the Collection piece,"

Niko pulled the Lion's Lighter out of his pocket, then tossed it to Mr. Meaux. The fancily-dressed butler opened up the tome and placed the Collection piece gently atop one of its pages, causing it to slowly sink inside.

"Hey...how did SPD get their hands on part of the Collection?" Griffin questioned. "I don't exactly remember you mentioning that when you brought us in,"

"That is a...recent development. I'm looking into it, but for now, I don't know any more than you do." Mr. Meaux reached into his suit jacket and produced an envelope, which he handed to Griffin before saying, "Here's your next target. I trust you'll take care of him…?"

"...I'll bet that's why they left in a hurry!" Griffin rushed behind the counter and into the backroom, where he began hastily throwing on his phantom thief get-up…

* * *

"Just a few finishing touches, and...done!" A magenta, yellow, and green slug-like alien laughed to himself as he waved a paintbrush in front of a skyscraper, magically transforming it into a statue of Don Tyrannus. "Alright _, another_ masterpiece! Now, which building should I use as my next canvas…?"

"FREEZE!" Isamu shouted as he, Eddie, and Sasha burst onto the scene out of nowhere, brandishing their Delta Defenders in their right hands and their SPD badges in their left. "SPD!"

"What's up with the statue?!" Sasha demanded as the alien turned around to face them.

"I made it in the image of Don Tyrannus, the greatest mob boss in the galaxy!" The alien exclaimed. "And soon I, Pittoraca, shall take my rightful place as his successor!"

"Our buildings aren't toys for you to play with," Isamu put his badge away and swapped it for his blaster, then used his right hand to produce Siren Runner I. "You guys ready?!"

"Ready!" Eddie and Sasha hollered in unison, producing their own Siren Runners. As the three slotted their Zords onto their morphers, they shouted, "SPD: Emergency!"

**~C-Squad Quick Morph~**

"One! SPD Red Ranger!"

"Two! SPD Green Ranger!"

"Three! SPD Pink Ranger!"

"Space Patrol Delta! Defenders of Earth!"

"By the authority of SPD...we're bringing you **IN!"** Isamu shouted into his DeltaMax Echo, using it to amplify his voice. He then flicked his right wrist forward, converting the weapon into its DeltaMax Basher mode. As he brandished the baton-like weapon and ran forward, Eddie and Sasha used their Delta Defenders to shoot laser bolts at the alien. "TAKE THIS!"

* * *

**Episode 3: Ranger Blues (Part I of III)**

"...Pittoraca," A morphed Griffin observed from a nearby rooftop, where he, Niko, and Esther watched the battle taking place between the C-Squad Rangers and the Fossilli Family member. "Looks like SPD's after him, too."

"This could be bad, we need to get his treasure pronto!" Esther replied. Out of nowhere, Niko wordlessly walked to the edge of the rooftop and dropped down to the ground below. The Red and Yellow Rangers quickly followed after their Blue teammate, joining him in interrupting the battle.

"We can't have you guys destroying his safe and the treasure inside!" Griffin said to Isamu as he moved between him and Pittoraca. The Red Victory Ranger grabbed the alien by the arm and shoved him backward, preventing his rival from shooting him as Esther began to brawl with Sasha. Eddie rushed over intending to assist his teammates, but was cut off when Niko vaulted into the air and landed directly in front of him.

"And while we're at it, we'll take _your_ Collection pieces!" Without warning, he aimed his blaster as the Green Ranger and fired. Eddie ducked to avoid the blast, then spun around Niko as he lunged toward him.

"In that case, I'll arrest you right here!" The young cadet replied, his voice full of determination. He grabbed the Blue Ranger by the arm and attempted to hold him in place, but Niko effortlessly countered the move, twisting out of the hold before lunging for him again. Eddie grunted in pain as Niko pistol-whipped him and sent him rolling backwards, but he kept going, refusing to lose the duel between him and his blue-clad rival.

"You're all a bunch of nuisances, y'know that?!" Pittoraca aimed a strange arm-cannon at the Rangers, which he used to fire several globs of a sticky paint-like substance at them. "Get a load of this!"

"Ah crap!" Griffin clumsily dodged the sticky substance, as did Isamu.

"Shit, that was close!" Esther swore as she narrowly avoided getting hit. She then turned her attention back to Sasha, who dashed towards her after also managing to avoid the substance.

Meanwhile, Niko back-flipped away, effortlessly avoiding the globs. Eddie rushed after him but ran directly into two of the globs, causing his feet to become stuck to the concrete.

"What the…? What is this stuff?!" The Green Ranger exclaimed. As Pittoraca cackled with evil laughter and Griffin and Isamu tore away from their own fight to go after the Fossilli Family member, Niko seized the opportunity by walking up and snatching the Delta Defender out of his hand. "Hey, that's mine-!"

"Eddie!" Sasha called out in concern, rushing to her teammate's aid. She turned her attention towards Niko, running towards him while firing wildly. "Give that back, you good for nothing thief!"

"Why don't you _make_ me?!" Niko growled, spinning around to avoid her attacks before aiming both his Victory Blaster and Eddie's Delta Defender at the Pink Ranger. However, Sasha was too fast for him; she effortlessly dodged the pair of incoming laser bolts, then tackled the Blue Ranger, sent him rolling forward, and ripped the Delta Defender from his grip using her ankles.

"Eddie, catch!" With an agile backflip, she sent the device hurtling into the air towards her friend. The Green Ranger reached to grab his morpher, only to miss and fall backward into more sticky paint.

"Aw no, I'm stuck…!"

"Woah…!" Esther exclaimed as she was sent flying by Pittoraca. Griffin instinctively lunged at the creature in retaliation, only to be sent rolling backwards towards a downed Isamu.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!" The Red SPD Ranger exclaimed, moving to stand up as Pittoraca ran toward a nearby wall.

"Feel free to come after me!" The alien taunted, turning around to face the pair of Red Rangers. "Just know this - _you'll_ be the ones who wind up getting caught!"

" _What the heck's he on about…?"_ Griffin said to himself in slight confusion.

"See ya around!" With that, Pittoraca aimed his arm-cannon at himself and discharged a purple liquid of some kind, which enveloped him as he teleported away.

"WAIT!" Isamu finally got back up and dashed towards where Pittoraca had just stood a moment ago.

"Damn, he got away!" Esther growled in frustration, hopping back up to her feet and trodding back over to Griffin.

"Let's get outta here," He told her, reaching for the grappling hook on his belt buckle. Before he could use it, however, he found his attention drawn to the other side of the plaza where Niko was still fighting Sasha. "...Man, what is he _doing_?!"

With that, the Red Victory Ranger reluctantly rushed to assist his Blue teammate. Shaking her head, Esther followed after him, firing a few shots at Isamu to keep him from following.

Griffin dashed up to Niko as he narrowly avoided a bullet from Sasha's Delta Defender, grabbing him by the arm before spinning him around. "C'mon, it's time to leave!"

He used his grappling hook to propel into the air, taking the Blue Ranger with him as Esther quickly followed.

"You think you can flee the scene too?!" Isamu hollered into his DeltaMax Echo, rushing to pursue them.

"Isamu, wait!" Sasha urged the Red SPD Ranger, gesturing to their Green cohort when he turned around to look at her. As Isamu reluctantly made his way back over to the two, she looked down at the younger cadet and said, "Hold on, help is on the way,"

" _You've gotta be KIDDING me…!"_ Isamu growled under his breath.

* * *

**~Meanwhile, up on a nearby rooftop…~**

"...we know where Pittoraca's hiding," A now-demorphed Griffin said to Niko, waving the envelope Mr. Meaux had given him in his face before continuing. "Let's head out and-"

"-hang on," Niko said, demorphing before grabbing the red-clad youth by the wrist. "We should steal back the Collection pieces SPD has while we still can, why're you fighting me on this…?"

"We've got bigger fish to fry! Besides, taking on SPD is more trouble than it's worth!" Griffin pointed out. He ripped his arm away from Niko's grip, then added, "We're better off saving them until the end."  
"Says the guy who keeps getting in my way!" Niko spat. "Do you even _want_ to get the Collection back?!"

"Of course I do!" Griffin shouted, raising his voice in kind. "I'm trying to be smart about this!"

"Really? Because if you ask me you're just being a scaredy cat!" Niko shot back. "I mean if I didn't know any better, I'd think you didn't even _wanna_ bring your brother back!"

" _Niko_!" Esther cut in-between the two, demorphing before trying to prevent the altercation from escalating any further. Glaring at the blue-clad thief, she added, "That's enough, you took it too far!"

"...I'm tired of prolonging this," Niko said after taking a deep breath, calming down enough to lower his voice to a normal volume. "You guys may think this is some sort of a game, but I'm in it to win it, and I won't let you or those jackasses from SPD get in my way."

"Niko…!"

"Let's be logical here. There's three of us - there's _no_ reason you two can't go after Pittoraca while I go after SPD," With that, Niko turned and walked away, disappearing from the rooftop and leaving the other two by themselves.

"Niko, wait!" Griffin tore up the stairs to follow the older man, only for a flying object to hit him in the forehead and send him tumbling downwards.

"Woohoo! I found the thieves!" A familiar high-pitched voice shouted, belonging to none other than DeuxStriker.

"Deuxie, where have you been?!" Esther demanded, folding her arms as Griffin laid on his back and groaned in pain...

* * *

**~Meanwhile, inside the Fossilli Family's hideout…~**

"...so, Pittoraca made a statue of me," Don Tyrannus said to himself, sitting at the head of his dining room table as Dilophoom paced behind him protectively. "Interesting,"

"If you ask me he's an idiot..." His loyal second-in-command replied, weighing in with his opinion.

"Maybe, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't entertained!" Gatlor laughed as she entered the room and walked up to the chair Tyrannus was sitting in. She gave her husband a quick peck on the cheek, then turned back to Dilophoom and said, "You should try and lighten up, sometime!"

"Nobody asked you," The green alien spat. Meanwhile, Tyrannus stroked his chin, appearing to be deep in thought.  
"The method doesn't matter, so long as he gets results," The mob boss reasoned, prompting both Dilophoom and Gatlor to turn their attention back to him…


	8. Episode 3: Ranger Blues (Part II)

**Episode 3: Ranger Blues (Part II of III)**

As he snuck his way up onto the rooftop of a building adjacent to SPD Headquarters, Niko felt his mouth twist into a bit of a frown. He let out a sigh, then cast his gaze downward as a memory unearthed itself in his mind…

* * *

" _~It's a new day, but it all feels old! It's a good life, that's what I'm told! But every single day just feels the same!~" A younger Niko sang loudly into the microphone in front of him as he shredded note after note on his electric guitar. All around him, his friends and bandmates poured their heart and soul into the song they were using as a warmup for their practice session. As the chord he'd most recently played slowed to a halt, so too did he; pausing before he sung the next line, Niko said, "Man, it just doesn't sound right…"_

" _Niko? Baby, what's the matter?" His wife Melody stood from her seat in front of the drums and walked up to her husband, rubbing his back while whispering soothingly in his ear. "We were doing great, why'd you stop?"_

" _It's not you guys, it's...me," Niko said, looking up at his wife before looking down at his mic. "Something about my voice just sounds...off."_

" _Your voice sounds fine to me, sweetheart. Tell ya what, why don't we just try again and we'll stop if you're still not happy with it?" With that, Melody returned to her spot behind the drum set, then looked to the rest of their bandmates and said, "1! 2! 1, 2, 3, go!"_

" _~It's a new day, but it all feels old! It's a good life, that's what I'm told! But every single day just feels the same!~" Niko repeated, singing the same line he'd just sang but with much more bounce to his voice. Feeling much happier with his own performance this time around, he turned to his wife and gave her a loving smile, then continued the song by singing, "~And my highschool, it felt more to me like a jail cell, a penitentiary! My time spent there, it only made me seeeeeeeeee...!~"_

* * *

As his mind slowly returned to the present, Niko found himself involuntarily clenching his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white. Music had been his passion, but without his hearing, Niko just couldn't enjoy playing with his band like he used to. They had long since disbanded, and furthermore, his relationship with his wife had become strained. He still loved her, but not being able to hear her voice, her laugh...it cut him deeper than any blade. That...that was why he was determined to get back what he'd lost. He _would_ be able to hear his own music again. He _would_ be able to hear his wife's beautiful voice again!

...but first, SPD's C-Squad Rangers would have to be dealt with.

Snapping out of his nostalgic trance, the blue-clad thief made his way to the edge of the rooftop. He looked down at SPD's Headquarters building, glaring down at what was essentially a representation of everything he hated. SPD, the organization that had failed to keep him safe - the organization that failed to prevent him from losing his hearing and now stood in the way of him getting it back.

"No matter what it takes…" He said to himself, taking off his sunglasses and wiping a stray tear from his eye before putting them back on. "I WILL HEAR AGAIN!"

Before he could leap off of the rooftop, a hand reached out and placed itself on his shoulder. Glancing over, Niko saw Griffin, who had somehow caught up to him.

"If you go down there, you're gonna get caught," The red-clad thief warned, prompting Niko to tear away from his grip and whip around to face him.

"If that happens, that still leaves you and Esther-"

"And then we'd be at a major disadvantage! Do you have any idea how selfish you're being?!" Griffin shouted. "You're so focused on what _you_ want that you can't see the big picture - if we don't work together, _none_ of us will get what we want! What about _my_ wish?! Do you even care about that…?"

Niko took a deep breath, then replied, "...so what're you suggesting? We just leave SPD alone and let them keep their Collection pieces?"

"SPD isn't going anywhere," Griffin pointed out, having calmed down in the moments following his outburst. "If anything, they'll be coming to _us_...so let's use that to our advantage,"

* * *

**~Meanwhile, inside SPD's HQ…~**

"I can't _believe_ you allowed him to take your Morpher!" Isamu shouted, pacing back and forth as he lectured a rather terrified-looking Eddie. "You can't continue to underestimate the Fossilli Family and the Victory Rangers like that!"

Eddie opened his mouth to respond several times during the verbal assault, but eventually only replied with a meek, "I'm s-sorry, sir."

"You'd better be!" Isamu said sternly, prompting Sasha to walk over to him and place both hands on his shoulders.

"Isamu, ease up! He isn't making excuses, and he seems pretty bummed out about it. I think he's learned his lesson,"

A few moments later, John Doe shot up out of his desk, the sirens on the sides of his head blaring loudly as he turned around to face the others.

"RED ALERT, RED ALERT! We've received an eyewitness report relating to Pittoraca!"

"Go ahead, John Doe!" Captain Farukon encouraged from his desk, prompting the robot to continue.

"Right!"

With that, the robot pressed a button on his wrist, causing an audio recording to echo out of a speaker on his face…

* * *

"There's this old art gallery downtown that's mostly abandoned, I saw one of the monsters go inside!" Griffin spoke into his smartphone, using a voice-changer app to modify his voice as he recorded it. He then sent the message in as an anonymous tip to SPD HQ before shutting off the app and turning back to Niko. "That oughta do the trick!

* * *

"An art studio, huh…?" Isamu stroked his chin, and Sasha moved away from him and turned to face the Captain.

"Do you think it's him?" She asked the Captain, who stood from his desk before responding.

"It's definitely worth investigating...C-Squad, MOVE OUT!" At Captain Farukon's command, Isamu and Sasha tore out of the room, leaving behind a rather sullen looking Eddie. Seeing this, the Captain added, "Chin up, Cadet. Everyone makes mistakes - it's what we do to compensate for them that defines us."

"...Yes sir," Eddie replied, still sounding unsure of himself. Despite the uncertainty, he ran after his teammates, and together the three unknowingly took the bait that had been fed to them by Griffin…

* * *

"Now…" Pittaraco said to himself as he sat inside an abandoned art studio in downtown New Tech City, painting a strange looking picture on a blank canvas he'd found. "Which building should I turn into my next masterpiece…?"

"FREEZE!" Isamu said as he burst through the front door out of nowhere, brandishing his Delta Defender which he immediately aimed at the Fossilli Family member. "SPD!"

"What-?!" Pittoraca squelched in surprise. Meanwhile, Sasha burst through the back door and used a flight of metal steps to flank the Fossilli from the left, while Eddie rolled in through a broken window in the building's right side. "Oh no…!"

"SPD: Emergency!" The three shouted in unison, instantly morphing into their Ranger forms.

As the C-Squad Rangers brandished their weapons and surrounded him, Pittoraca said, "Man, this situation really...makes me happy!"

"Wait, what-" Before they had time to react, Pittoraca pressed a hidden button on a nearby pillar, causing dispensers in the ceiling to shoot out the purple paint-like substance he'd previously shot at them in the battle before. Within moments, all three Rangers were trapped.

"Hahahaha! You fell for it hook, line, and sinker!" With that, Pittoraca ran up the stairs and left the art studio, leaving his new captives trapped.

"Oh no, he got away!" Isamu shouted.

"Crap, not this _again_!" Eddie groaned.

"It was a trap!" Sasha realized, as all three of them struggled to break free to no avail.

"Yes it was!" Pittoraca shouted with glee as he ran out of the art studio and onto the streets of New Tech's downtown area. "I told you you'd be the ones caught if you came after me!"

"-Wow! So it really was a trap!" A female voice said out of nowhere, prompting the alien to look around in confusion. As he glanced up at a nearby rooftop and spotted the Victory Rangers in their phantom thief costumes, Esther added, "Looks like you were spot on as usual, Red!"

"So wait... _they_ were bait for _me_?!" Pittoraca exclaimed in confusion, sounding flabbergasted. Meanwhile, Griffin turned to Niko, who eyed him with a twinkle of curiosity in his dark green orbs.

"See, we've got more tactics we can rely on, now," The red-clad thief told his blue counterpart, who blinked a few times as realization began to set in.

"You have a point there," Griffin grinned, then turned his attention back to Pittoraca.

"And now that _they're_ out of the way, we can take _you_ down!" With that, the Red Ranger whipped out his Dial Zord. As his teammates followed his lead, he added, "It's Morphin' Time!"

"Victorise!" They all three shouted in unison, slotting their Dial Zords onto their Morphers and tilting the barrel so that they sat on top before entering their combinations into the dials and pulling the trigger. "FIRE!"

**~Victory Rangers Morphing Sequence~**

"The Daring Thief! Red Victory Ranger!"

"The Dexterous Thief! Blue Victory Ranger!"

"The Agile Thief! Yellow Victory Ranger!"

"Snatching up a win at blinding speed! Victory Rangers!"

"I'm only telling you this once…" Griffin began, as he and his teammates finished their rollcall. "Your treasure is **MINE!"**

"CRANFOROS!" Pittoraca bellowed, summoning a small horde of the small, skeletal aliens. He then gestured up towards his foes, prompting the goons to aim their blaster pistols up at them and open fire. The Victory Rangers effortlessly dodged the barrage of incoming fire, backflipping until they were out of view before leaping off of the rooftop from the side using their grappling hooks.

"Surprise!" Griffin quipped as he glided down, gunning down Cranforos left and right. He then landed on the ground below and leapt into the fray as Niko and Esther landed beside him.

"Eat...THIS!" Esther growled as she shot a Cranforo point-blank in the chest repeatedly, then kicked off of it and vaulted over the head of another Cranforo that was behind her. Brandishing her Victory Saber, she slashed her foe in the back repeatedly before swapping to her Claw mode, which she used to grab onto a nearby streetlight. She swung around the metal pole and then released her Claw, sending her hurtling through the air towards yet another Cranforo. "Didn't see that coming, didya?!"

To her right, Niko stood surrounded by at least a dozen of the alien footsoldiers. The Blue Ranger stood his ground with confidence, ducking and side stepping out of the way of the Cranforos' incoming laser bolts whilst retaliating with some of his own. As his attackers began dwindling in number and their assault subsequently slowed, he seized the opportunity and tore through a gap in their defenses. He ran up a nearby wall, then kicked off, back-flipping while firing wildly at the remaining Cranforos.

Watching his blue teammate out of the corner of his eye as he spun his Victory Blaster around his trigger finger and effortlessly mowed through the remaining survivors, Griffin hollered, "Good job, Blue!"

"You too, Red!" Niko echoed, jabbing the last Cranforo in the abdomen with his Victory Saber as it attempted to sneak up on him. With the small-minded thugs now disposed of, the three Victory Rangers regrouped and focused their attention back on Pittoraca.

"Aw crap, this isn't looking good!" The slug-alien shouted fearfully, dashing towards a nearby stone pillar before whipping out his paintbrush. He then turned the pillar into a pile of stone spears, which he subsequently launched into the air and sent hurtling towards his foes. "Let's see how you like THIS!"

As the spears came raining down on them, Griffin and Esther hastily dove out of the way. Niko, however, stood his ground; he caught one of the spears as it flew past him, then used it in a similar manner to a bo-staff, striking the other spears and knocking them down mid-flight. Once he was done, he spun the spear around so that the spearhead faced outward, then lifted it up in his right hand and threw it at their attacker.

"Woaaaaaah!" Pittoraca clumsily shouted as he side-stepped out of the way, narrowly dodging the incoming projectile. While he was distracted with the spear, Griffin hopped back up to his feet and rushed the Fossilli Family member, front-flipping over his head and grabbing him from behind as Niko ran to join him.

"6-3-6!" A familiar electronic voice echoed out of the Blue Dial Zord as Niko placed it on Pittoraca's safe. With a metallic click, the safe opened, allowing the Blue Ranger to reach inside and procure a gray and green tiki-like object.

"Sculptor's Muse," Niko remarked, slamming the safe shut before pocketing the Collection piece. "Looks like your treasure is ours, now."

"GIVE IT BACK!" The slug-alien roared, breaking free of Griffin's grip and swinging at Niko with his paintbrush.


	9. Episode 3: Ranger Blues (Part III)

**Episode 3: Ranger Blues (Part III of III)**

" _Gahhhhhhhhhhh!"_

Isamu, Eddie, and Sasha grunted in frustration as they continued their attempts to break free of the goo they were trapped in, to no avail. No matter how hard they tried, the paint-like substance Pittoraca had left them strung up in didn't seem to budge. It was beginning to seem hopeless.

Eddie's voice seemed to echo this sentiment, as he solemnly mumbled, " _This isn't working…"_

"Don't give up!" Isamu hollered at him, prompting Eddie to glance over in his direction. "This is...your moment to shine...Suarez!"

"My...moment to shine?" The Green Ranger said to himself, his mind casting itself back to earlier that day…

* * *

" _Chin up, Cadet. Everyone makes mistakes," Captain Farukon told Eddie, placing a reassuring hand on the young cadet's shoulder. "It's what we do to compensate for them that defines us."_

* * *

"I...I messed up today, but...I can fix this!" Eddie shouted, his voice swelling with confidence. He then struggled to move his right hand, pushing with all his might until he was able to aim his Delta Defender at the discarded DeltaMax Basher that laid on the floor next to Isamu. "I...can...FIX THIS!"

With that, he pulled the trigger, launching a laser bolt that struck the bottom of the discarded weapon's handle in such a way that it was launched into the air. It arced through the air towards him, then cut through the goop that bound his right arm to a metal pillar.

"I DID IT!" With his right hand now free, Eddie aimed his Delta Defender at the goop restraining his left arm and fired, then scooped up the DeltaMax Basher with his newly-freed left hand and slashed as the goop around his ankles. Having fully freed himself from his binds, Eddie aimed at the puddle of goop gluing Isamu to the floor and fired, freeing his red counterpart as well.

"Suarez!" Isamu said as he struggled up to his knees, prompting Eddie to run over to him and help him back up to his feet. The Red SPD Ranger slapped his green teammate lightly on the back, then said, "Nice work!"

"Thank you for the positive reinforcement, sir!" Eddie replied with a goofy salute. Sasha rolled her eyes slightly inside her helmet, biting back a laugh as the green rookie dashed over to free her as well…

* * *

"Wahhhhhhh!" Pittoraca shouted as he was launched backward, landing on the ground and rolling away as Griffin, Niko, and Esther continued to advance.

"Alright, let's wrap this up," Griffin said, tossing his Victory Blaster from his right hand to his left before using his newly-emptied right hand to pull out DeuxStriker.

"Oh boy, that means it's my turn!" DeuxStriker shouted excitedly, shaking in Griffin's hand. Connecting the dots in her head, Esther shook her head violently as she turned and began walking away from the others.

"Un uh, _no_ way! No, no, no! I am _not_ fusing with you two!" She protested, her mind momentarily flashing back to when Isamu had used DeuxStriker to fuse with Eddie and Sasha and become the SPD Fusion Ranger. "Not happening, not in a million years, I'M GOING HOME!"

"Hey, get back here, we're not done!" Griffin grabbed his yellow counterpart by the arm and dragged her back, much to her chagrin. "Besides, don't knock it 'til you try it, I mean, it could be fun!"

"What part of fusing together could _possibly_ be fun?! You are _such_ a dumbass, sometimes!"

"Would you two cut the chatter and focus?!" Niko admonished, prompting the other two to turn their attention back to the task at hand. Griffin acted quickly, swapping his Red Dial Zord out for DeuxStriker and twisting the dial on top of the sentient Collection piece.

"DeuxStriker: 3, 2, 1!" The electronic voice echoed from Griffin's Victory Blaster, as he pulled the lever in the back and twisted the barrel so that DeuxStriker sat on top. "ACTION!"

Shooting out of the Victory Blaster, a red light flew around Griffin and emitted a strange pulse. Suddenly, he expanded like a balloon before shrinking back down in size; before he could even process what was happening, the Red Victory Ranger found himself standing next to two identical copies of himself - one held a Victory Saber while the other held a Victory Claw.

"Victory Ranger TRI!" His morpher announced, as his mind slowly began to process what had just happened.

"Wait...WHAT THE HECK?!" Griffin and his two clones shouted in unison, getting up in eachother's faces. "Why are _YOU...ME?!"_

"Wait, instead of fusing us, you cloned Griffin?" A somewhat dumbstruck Niko questioned DeuxStriker. "How does that even work?!"

"Beats me!" The sentient Collection piece replied, sounding just as confused as Niko.

"...Great, exactly what we needed. _More_ of you," Esther teased Griffin, prompting all three of the Red Victory Rangers to scoff.

"Whatever, you're just jealous!" They responded in unison. They then turned their attention back to Pittoraca and added, "Since there's three of me now, let's finish this together!"

With that, all five Victory Rangers (clones included) readied their weapons, which began to glow with energy in their respective colors. Before Pittoraca even had a chance to react, five beams of energy were hurtling his way.

" **Tri + Blue and Yellow STRIKE!"** Griffin's Victory Blaster announced as the beams cut through Pittoraca like a hot knife through butter, causing his body to spark with electricity.

"Aw CRAPPPPPPP!" The slug-alien screamed as his body erupted in a massive explosion. This explosion created a massive crater which he then landed in after flying through the air; lying on the ground defeated as his charred body emitted clouds of smoke, Pittoraca groaned in agony.

" _Damn!_ That was incredible, Deuxie!" Esther shouted, turning her attention to DeuxStriker as he sat slotted on the original Griffin's morpher. "What else can you do?!"

"Lots!" The sentient Zord replied with a bit of a chuckle.

"I just remembered, we never asked Mr. Meaux about him," Niko pointed out, prompting DeuxStriker to begin trembling.

"D-D-Did you just say Mr. M-M-Meaux?!" Before anyone could even respond, the Sentient Zord tore itself off of Griffin's Victory Blaster, causing the two clones to vanish as he flew into the air, turned around, and flew in the other direction. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Wait, Deuxie! Come back!" Esther called after him. A few moments later, the C-Squad Rangers burst onto the scene, and DeuxStriker accidentally slammed directly into the Red SPD Ranger's forehead.

"Ow…!" Isamu groaned in pain as he fell onto his back, then shot up to his feet once he realized who'd just ran into him. Snatching the dazed DeuxStriker out of the air, he said, "Ha! There you are!"

"Aw crap, here she comes…!" DeuxStriker shouted as a portal opened nearby, revealing none other than Gatlor.

"Now, my darling treasure…make Pittoraca feel better!" With that, the oviraptor-alien shot a green orb of energy at the battered and bruised Pittoraca, who was instantly revitalized and grew to massive heights.

"HAHAHAHA!" The now giant Pittoraca boomed, raising his metal paintbrush and bringing it crashing down. As the Victory Rangers clumsily dove out of the way, he added, "Time for some restructuring! This city is MINE!"

"The Fossilli's more dangerous, so we prioritize him!" Isamu ordered Eddie and Sasha. With that, the three rotated the barrels of their Delta Defenders back and forth and aimed them in front of them, pulling the trigger with a hearty, "HA!"

"Siren Runner I, Siren Runner II, Siren Runner III: DEPLOY!" The Siren Runners shot off of their respective Rangers' morphers and grew giant, allowing them to board them as they drove after a rampaging Pittoraca.

"Time to try this out!" Isamu hollered as he slotted an unwilling DeuxStriker onto his morpher. He then stood as his cockpit door swung open, aiming his DeltaDefender out in front of him. "FIRE!"

"Wahhhhhh!" DeuxStriker shouted as his wings and nose-cone folded up, converting him into his Siren Runner mode as he grew giant. "I guess I have no choice...time to combine! Let's reach out and grab justice by the tail!"

With that, DeuxStriker swerved to a halt and began to transform, forming part of a robotic body. The Siren Runners veered around him and also swerved to a halt, as their pilots pulled their DeltaDefenders backward and converted their cockpit seats to their Megazord configuration. Siren Runner II deployed its cannon, Siren Runner III deployed its baton, and Siren Runner I deployed its red wheel. Suddenly, the three Zords shot up into the air; Siren Runner I slotted onto the front of the robot body while Siren Runners II and III connected to the left and right shoulders, respectively. As Isamu, Eddie, and Sasha found themselves being transported to a new, centralized cockpit, Siren Runner I split down the middle to reveal a robot head and face, completing the transformation.

" **Siren Squad Megazord: READY~!"** The electronic voice from their morphers announced, as the newly formed Megazord stood ready for action. With the transformation complete, the Siren Squad Megazord skated forward and vaulted into the air, slashing Pittoraca over the head with its baton.

"WAHHHHHH!" The giant Fossilli Family member shouted in pain. Landing on the other side of the gigantic alien, the Siren Squad Megazord turned around and posed with its weapons, taking a fighting stance as Griffin, Niko, and Esther looked on from the ground below.

"Y'know, I kinda figured he could form a Megazord with their Zords, too," Griffin said as he casually plopped down on the curb. Niko and Esther simply glared up and snorted in reply, neither one seeming thrilled with the new development.

"Why...you may have a shiny new toy, but it's not gonna be enough to beat me!" Pittoraca dashed forward, using his arm cannon to shoot out globs of his purple paint-like substance at the Megazord.

"We're not falling for that again!" Eddie shouted defiantly. With that, he and his teammates willed the Megazord to roll behind a series of nearby buildings; the Siren Squad Megazord used its own arm cannon to shoot the blobs in mid-air, destroying them before they could ensnare the giant robot.

"Oh COME ON!" Pittoraca exclaimed in frustration. He then grunted in pain as the Siren Squad Megazord focused its fire on him.

"When it comes to shootouts we won't lose!" Eddie declared. As the Megazord slid to a halt, Isamu pressed a button on his console, causing a screen to pop out of it's head.

"Pittoraca, you are hereby charged with theft of a Collection piece, several counts of property damage, and endangering the populace!" Isamu then slammed his fist on another console-button, causing the screen to begin flashing between the red X and the green O. **"JUDGMENT MODE!"**

"Wait, I didn't do it! I'm innocent, I swear!" Despite his protests, the screen continued to flash between verdicts; eventually it settled on the red X, prompting him to shout, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

" **GUILTY!"** As Pittoraca fired a volley of laser bolts at the Megazord, Isamu and the others willed it to take cover behind the nearby statue of Don Tyrannus. Pittoraca and the Megazord continued to trade blows; eventually, this resulted in Pittoraca's body being rocked with small explosions, along with the destruction of the statue.

* * *

Watching all of this unfold via the video-screen in their hideout's dining room, Dilophoom and Gatlor both gasped and rose to their feet. Their shoulders then sunk as they turned to Don Tyrannus, who said nothing.

"Well...at least the feet are still there?" Dilophoom offered. Don Tyrannus remained silent, prompting him to turn away from his boss. " _Damn it all…"_

* * *

"Alright, it's time to bring this guy in!" Isamu hollered, drawing his Delta Defender out of its slot on his console as he stood to his feet. As Eddie and Sasha followed his lead, he aimed his morpher and added, **"Siren Squad Megazord: Sentencing...Strike! Ready...Aim…"**

" **FIRE!"** All three C-Squad Rangers _and_ DeuxStriker shouted in unison, as the Megazord fired a massive blast of energy out of its arm cannon. The Megazord then swung at the orb of energy with its baton like it a baseball being hit by a baseball bat; the ball of energy hurtled towards Pittoraca at blinding speed, cutting through his body like a hot knife through butter.

"Wahhhhhhhhh!" The slug-alien shouted as his body exploded, then disappeared; his voice grew smaller and more muffled as a Containment Card holding him arced through the air. Isamu flipped a series of switches above his head, causing the cockpit to slide open and allow him to catch the Containment Card mid-flight.

"Gotcha!" He shouted, prompting the alien to continue its muffled shouts of protest. "You're going away for a lonnnnnnng time!"

"And so am I!" Out of nowhere, DeuxStriker forcibly disconnected itself from the Siren Runners, un-forming the Megazord and ejecting Isamu and the others from their Zords. As the C-Squad Rangers landed on the ground and struggled back up to their feet, the sentient Collection piece transformed back to his Dial Zord mode and flew away, leaving them behind.

"Hey, come back…!" Isamu called after him, to no avail.

"Did he just fly away _again?!"_ Niko shouted in frustration as he, Griffin, and Niko watched everything unfold from a couple blocks away...

* * *

**~A few hours later - Cafe Jurer~**

"...I guess he's not coming back," Griffin said, tearing himself from the window in order to walk up to a table that Mr. Meaux and Esther were both sitting at. He watched as the finely-dressed Frenchman stored the newly-acquired Sculptor's Muse inside his old tome, then muttered, " _I wonder what his deal is…"_

"Is Deuxie not on our side, then…?" Esther questioned, to which Mr. Meaux let out an amused snort.

"DeuxStriker has always been...difficult to handle," He told her cryptically, closing his tome before saying, "If I had to venture a guess, he _may_ even have something to do with SPD getting their hands on Collection pieces…"

"Could be...I mean, SPD had him to begin with," Niko pointed out from where he leaned against the front counter.

"We'll find out soon enough…" With that, Mr. Meaux stuffed his tome inside a large briefcase and turned his attention to the front door, as it opened to reveal three very-familiar looking people…

"Welcome back, officers!" Griffin greeted Isamu, Eddie, and Sasha as they entered the cafe. He, Niko, and Esther then moved behind the front counter, as he added, "What can I get you this afternoon?"

"We didn't get to finish our coffee earlier, but we just apprehended a perp so hopefully we won't be called away this time," Isamu replied. He then turned to Eddie before saying, "Suarez, dessert. It's on me,"

"What-?!" Eddie exclaimed in surprise, the gesture catching him off guard. "But why?"

"You did a good job today. Without you, we would've never gotten out of that art gallery," With that, Isamu gently placed his hand on the younger cadet's shoulder before adding, "C-Squad's lucky to have you."

"I...I...THANK YOU SIR!" Eddie bear-hugged Isamu, catching him off guard completely.

"Suarez, now's not the time for hugs! Pick out a dessert you want or the offer's off the table!" Eddie only tightened his grip, much to Isamu's frustration. "SUAREZ!"

"I'm sorry sir, I'm just really happy to hear you say that!"

"LET GO!" Isamu hollered, eliciting a fit of giggles from Sasha and the others.

" _Man those two are idiots…"_ Niko whispered to himself, just within earshot of Griffin.

" _Yeah, seems like it...we can't afford to underestimate them, though."_ The Red Victory Ranger whispered back. He then added, " _...Are we cool?"_

" _...Yeah, we're cool,"_ Niko assured him. " _I mean, you were right. Had I gone into SPD HQ by myself like that, I'd be in a jail cell right now. Besides it's like you said: they're not going anywhere."_

 _"Glad we're on the same page, then,"_ With that, Griffin and Niko turned their attention to making the order that Isamu had just made, Eddie finally having released him from his hug and decided on a dessert.

 _It appears my business here is done._ Mr. Meaux thought to himself as he stood up from his table, briefcase in hand. He then walked out of the cafe and headed for his limo. _Until next time, Victory Rangers…_

_**Tune in Next Time for Episode 4: Pink Pursuit!** _


	10. Episode 4: Pink Pursuit (Part I)

"Well, here we are."

A short and slender alien woman with peach colored skin, a gem embedded in her forehead, and shoulder-length pink hair looked up at her boyfriend - a tall and stocky alien man with translucent diamond blue skin - and smiled as he brought the car they were riding in to a slow stop.

"Thank you for today," The woman replied, gazing up at him lovingly. "I had a wonderful time."

"Me too," Her boyfriend replied, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek before adding, "I'll see you again in a couple days?"

"Call me," His girlfriend echoed as she got out of the car, giving him a small wink before turning and walking up the sidewalk leading to her apartment.

"Hey, don't forget your present!" Her boyfriend called after her, prompting her to turn around. He then gestured to a large gift-wrapped white box with a red bow on it sitting in the back seat, which she quickly rushed to procure.

"Sorry," She said sheepishly, blushing a bit. "Must've slipped my mind."

"And here I was thinking you mind-readers remembered everything," Her boyfriend teased, his mouth curling up into a smirk. As she grabbed the present and shut the door to the backseat, he added, "Love you."

"Love you too," With that, the Crystalian man drove away, leaving his Xybrian girlfriend to turn back around and make her way up the sidewalk leading to her apartment building. With a spring in her step, the young woman made her way inside and carried the present with her as she bounded up the stairs, travelled to the third floor, and navigated to her apartment in question. Using her key to unlock the door, she swung it open and stepped inside.

"Hey, I'm home!" She called out into the apartment as she shut the door behind her, prompting Gale, her Aquatianroommate, to poke her head out of the kitchen.

"Hey Terra!" Gale greeted, giving her roommate a warm smile. "You're just in time for lunch, you want some?"

"No thanks, Lucent and I just had a pizza a little while ago," She replied. "Thanks, though."  
"No problem!" With that, Gale stepped back into the kitchen, turning her attention to the meal she was preparing herself for lunch. This left Terra to pad her way across the living room to her bedroom, where she shut the door behind her before plopping down on her bed.

" _Now, I wonder what it is he got me…"_ She said to herself, eyeing the gift her boyfriend had just given her with a curious gleam in her silver orbs. She slowly peeled the wrapping paper off of the box and then opened it, revealing the gift in question. " _Awwwww! I love it!"_

With that, she clutched the gift close to her chest, a wide grin quickly forming on her face. This happiness didn't last long, however, as a few moments later a bright white glow filled the room and she let out a scream of fright as she suddenly vanished.

" _AAAAH!"_

"Terra?!" Gale tore out of the kitchen and dashed towards her friend's room, whipping the door open only to find the room empty. "Terra, what happened?! Where are you?!"

As her heart raced and she frantically wracked her brain trying to piece together what happened, Gale found herself coming up short. Not knowing what else to do, she ran back to the kitchen and grabbed her cell phone, dialing a number before raising it to her ear and shouting into it as soon as the person on the other end of the line picked up.

"SPD…?! My roommate just disappeared!"

* * *

**Episode 4: Pink Pursuit (Part I of III)**

" _~Don't stop believin'! Hold onto that feeeeeeeeeeeling!~"_ Eduardo "Eddie" Suarez, C-Squad's Green Ranger and resident rookie, belted in an out of tune voice as he tore down the road in an SPD patrol car, jamming to the classic Journey song as it blared out of the radio.

"Suarez, would you turn that crap off?!" Isamu Kaijo, C-Squad's Field Leader and Red Ranger, complained from the passenger's seat, annoyance evident in his dark brown eyes. He received no response, so he reached out and shut the radio off, bringing the younger cadet's jam session to a premature end. "Focus on the road, you're driving like a maniac!"

"S-Sorry, sir!" Eddie shouted apologetically, refocusing his attention on the road ahead of him. "Won't happen again, sir!"

"I should hope not," Isamu replied gruffly. He then changed the subject, saying, "Anyway, how far are we from the crime scene?"

"A couple blocks. We should be there in a few minutes," Sasha Burrise, C-Squad's Pink Ranger and the brains of the team, chimed in from the backseat. Glancing over at her red counterpart, she added, "Why so anxious?"

"I want us to be the first ones there," He told her, turning to face her as Eddie continued to drive down the road. "This case has Fossilli written all over it, and I don't want anyone else investigating it!"

"Serious as ever, huh? Guess some people never change," Sasha teased with a small smirk. Hearing this exchange from the driver's seat, Eddie found his interest being piqued.

"Sasha, you and Isamu knew eachother at the Academy, right?" Sasha nodded, prompting Eddie to add, "What was he like back then?"

This question sent Sasha's mind flashing back several years, back to a simpler time in the lives of herself and her longtime friend…

* * *

" _No, that can't be right..." A younger Isamu grumbled to himself as he glared down at the test paper in front of him. Whipping out an eraser, the hot headed SPD Trainee furiously swiped at the incorrect answer, pushing down as hard as he could in order to erase it. He ended up using too much force, inadvertently tearing his paper down the middle and sending his eraser flying out of his hand. Catching it as it hurtled through the air, a younger Sasha rolled her eyes before handing it back to her overzealous friend._

" _Here," She said, prompting him to take the eraser with a sheepish smile._

" _Gomen, (Sorry,)" He apologized in his native language, blushing slightly as he turned his attention back to his test…_

* * *

As her mind brought itself back to the present, Sasha replied to Eddie's question by saying, "He's always been pretty serious, but back then Isamu was pretty klutzy, too. It was actually kinda funny!"

"Isamu? _Klutzy?"_ Eddie let out a small laugh, then elbowed the senior cadet lightly in the side before saying, "Y'know, I never took you for the clumsy type, sir!"

"Just focus on the road," Isamu said emotionlessly, trying to hide his embarrassment. Eddie smiled and opened his mouth to speak again, but Isamu cut him off by saying, "I said focus, Suarez!"

Sasha had to bite back her laughter as Eddie once again apologized profusely and turned his attention back to the road ahead.

 _Never a dull moment in C-Squad,_ She thought to herself, as they continued to drive down the road towards the crime scene…

* * *

"...so _this_ is where it happened?"

Isamu gestured to Terra's bedroom door as he, Eddie, and Sasha stood in the living room of the apartment the young Xybrian woman shared with Gale. Having escorted them inside once they'd arrived, the Aquatian nodded.

"Mind if we take a look…?"

"By all means," Gale took a step back, giving the SPD Cadets plenty of space as they prepared to enter the bedroom in question. With her permission secured, Isamu slowly turned the doorknob and swung the door open. He, Eddie, and Sasha carefully stepped into the room and immediately began scanning it for clues; a twin sized bed with a purple bedspread and white pillows sat in the rightmost corner, while a small wooden desk sat to the left of it. On the other side of the room stood a large wooden dresser, and on top of that sat a white vanity mirror.

From what they could tell, the room looked fairly normal. Everything was clean, nothing was out of the ordinary, and there didn't appear to be any signs of a struggle. If they hadn't already known better, they likely would've found it hard to believe anyone had disappeared from here at all.

"...is this the only door to this room?" Isamu finally asked, speaking up for the first time in several minutes.

Gale nodded, then replied, "There's no other way anyone could've gotten in here."

"Interesting...so what're you thinking, Isamu?" Eddie inquired, glancing over at his fellow Cadet and Ranger. "Seems like something out of an Agatha Christie novel, huh?"

"Something like that…" Isamu said. "One thing's for sure though, Suarez - the Fossillis _definitely_ had something to do with this."

Gale immediately let out a gasp upon hearing this, her expression full of horror. Seeing her distress, Eddie helped her over to a chair in the living room and sat her down, attempting to calm her down as his two colleagues continued to search for clues. Going through a mental checklist, Isamu tried to paint a mental picture of what might've taken place, but found himself drawing a blank. His instincts told him that the Fossillis were to blame, but he couldn't begin to figure out how they'd gotten inside and gotten out without Gale knowing. Like she said, Terra's room only had one entrance, and even if that hadn't been the case, there was only one way into the apartment itself. Gale had been in the kitchen at the time, yes, but surely she would've noticed if someone broke in through the front door. Something just didn't add up.

"I hate to admit it, but I'm stumped…" He finally said, letting out a small sigh. Turning to Sasha, he addressed the Pink Ranger by adding, "What about you, you got any ideas?"

"Who, me…?" She replied, rapidly shaking her head as she tore her gaze from a spot on the floor she'd been staring at. Glancing over at her red counterpart, she responded with, "I'm coming up empty myself, sorry…"

"...Weird," Isamu furrowed his eyebrows as he turned and exited the room, leaving Sasha by herself. Stroking her chin, she turned her gaze back to what she'd been staring at earlier - a small shark plushie sitting on the hardwood floor next to the bed.

"Hmm…"

* * *

**~Approx. one hour later - SPD HQ~**

"...I don't get it!" Eddie shouted suddenly, frustration evident in his voice. Gripping his head in his hands, he leaned his head back and let out an exasperated sigh. "Why can't we find any leads?!"

"Be patient, Suarez!" Isamu reprimanded the younger cadet, tearing his attention away from his own desk. "There have been forty-two missing-persons cases within the past two weeks, there's gotta be _something_ connecting them all!"  
"You would think so, but there really isn't…" John Doe lamented, waving the Red and Green Rangers over as he pored over some data being displayed on the computer terminal in front of him. Turning his body somewhat so that the others could see his screen, the robot gestured towards it before adding, "All of the victims vary wildly in species, gender, and age. Aside from disappearing while inside locked rooms with only one entryway, none of them seem to have anything in common."

"You can't tell me there's _nothing_ linking all these cases," Isamu said defiantly, using his hand to swipe at the terminal's touch screen. He then began to idly flip through photographs taken at the different crime scenes, thoroughly combing through every inch for some kind of clue. "C'mon, what're we missing here…?!"

"...Wait!" Sasha said out of nowhere, speaking up for the first time since they'd returned to base. As the other three turned to look at her, she stood from her desk and slowly stepped towards the terminal, then gestured to a corner of the photo Isamu was currently looked at and added, "That shark plushie. I saw one _just like it_ on the floor of Terra's room."

"Wait a second...all of the crime scenes had one!" Eddie realized as Isamu resumed flipping through the photos, revealing more plushies. "That _can't_ just be a coincidence, right?"

"It's a bit of a leap, but it's the only solid lead we have right now…" Captain Farukon replied from his own desk, drawing everyone's attention immediately with his commanding presence. "John Doe, can you cross-reference those plushies in the photos with online shopping listings posted within the last two weeks to try and figure out where they were sold?"

"I'm on it, Captain!" With that, the robot focused intently on the computer screen, his eyes flashing blue as he instantly combed through dozens of internet search results. "...I've got it! The plushies are one of a kind, they're only sold in one toy store and it's here in town!"

"Understood! Upload the address to C-Squad's GPS system, stat!"

"Sir yes sir!" John Doe brought up a holographic control panel above his left wrist, then used his right wrist to type a series of commands into a keyboard that appeared. "Coordinates uploaded!"

"Rangers, I want you at that toy store ASAP! Now, MOVE OUT!"

"YES SIR!" The three Cadets replied in unison, saluting their commanding officer before tearing out of the room to pursue their new lead.

* * *

"...Alright, this is the place," Isamu said as he pulled into the parking lot of a local toy store, bringing the patrol car to a slow stop before putting the vehicle into park. Killing the engine, he unbuckled his seatbelt and thrust the driver's side door open, saying, "Let's move in!"

Eddie and Sasha wordlessly obeyed their field leader's order, hopping out of the car as quickly as possible before following him inside the establishment. As they stepped into the humble little toy shop, a man standing behind the front counter gave them a warm smile and offered a friendly greeting.

"Welcome to Fang's Fun Emporium! Anything I can help you with?"

"Actually, yes." Isamu stepped over to the front counter, flashing his SPD badge for the man to see before adding, "We're with SPD. We're investigating a string of missing-persons cases, and all of the victims came to possess a shark plushie exclusively sold here before they went missing. I need to see your stockroom,"

"...I'm sorry officer, but I'm actually getting ready to close up shop for the day," The shopkeeper replied, undergoing a sudden shift in demeanor. Rushing out from behind the counter, he produced a set of keys and headed for the front door, adding, "I'm afraid I can't help you, but maybe if you come back tomorrow-"

"Wait, come back here-!" Isamu called after the man, prompting him to speed walk out the front door and towards his car. Realizing something was up, the three Cadets tore after him and whipped out their blasters, with Isamu adding, "FREEZE!"

"Going somewhere, Portualo…?" A new but familiar voice said out of nowhere, causing the shopkeeper to whip around and look up at the roof of his store. Sitting on the rooftop with his legs dangling casually off the edge, a morphed Griffin added, "Last I checked, your store doesn't close until 9,"

The shopkeeper opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Griffin flicked a red card at him. The card hurtled through the air and gashed the suspicious man on the cheek, causing his body to expand and then glow with a blinding light. When the light cleared, a blue shark-like alien stood in his place.

"What the-? But how'd you know-?!" Portualo roared in anger, realizing his cover was blown.

"He's a Fossilli!" Isamu realized, aiming his blaster at the alien criminal. "I knew they were behind this!"

"Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work, guys," Griffin said to Niko and Esther, both of whom were sitting on the rooftop beside him. He then leapt down to the blacktop below, spinning his Victory Blaster around his trigger finger before firing a few shots at Portualo. "The Daring Thief! Red Victory Ranger!"

"The Dexterous Thief!" Niko added as he leapt down after Griffin, striking a quick pose before following his red counterpart into battle. "Blue Victory Ranger!"

"The Agile Thief!" Esther hollered as she somersaulted off of the roof, landing gracefully on the pavement below before following her two comrades into the fray. "Yellow Victory Ranger!"

"Snatching up a win at blinding speed!" They all three shouted in unison, finishing their rollcall as they surrounded Portualo and pelted him with laser bolts. "Victory Rangers!"

"I'm only telling you this once…" Griffin began, continuing to shoot at Portualo as he frantically tried to deflect the incoming projectiles with a shark fin-esque spear. "Your treasure is **MINE!"**

"Why, you damn Victories…! I'll teach you to blow my cover!" With that, Portualo charged towards the three thieves, swinging his spear at them in retaliation. "I'll kick your asses and put you down like the annoying pests you are!"

"Enough standing around, C-Squad! Time to get involved!" Isamu commanded, drawing his Siren Runner I and slotting it onto his morpher. Eddie and Sasha quickly followed suite, and together the three re-oriented their barrels to their proper position and aimed their blasters skyward before shouting, "SPD: Emergency!"

**~C-Squad Insta-Morph~**

"By the authority of SPD, we're bringing you **IN!"** Isamu declared, dashing towards Portualo and firing at him wildly. Eddie and Sasha followed closely behind, firing rapid shots at the shark-alien while occasionally shifting focus to the Victory Rangers. Within moments, a three-way fight between the two Ranger Teams and the Fossilli Family member had erupted…


End file.
